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EUNICE TRIPLER 



SOME NOTES OF 
HER PERSONAL 
RECOLLECTIONS 



\ 




THE GRAFTON PRESS 

NEW YORK 



MCMX 



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Copyright, 1910 
By LOUIS A, ARTHUR 

Printed for private circulation 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

In Explanation 



I Some Family History 
II Washington in Early Days 

III Detroit in Early Days 

IV Early Married Life , 
V Dr. Charles Stuart Tripler 

VI During the Mexican War 
VII The California Service 
VIII Newport, Kentucky 
IX During the Civil War . 
X Dr. Tripler's Death 
XI A Few General Remarks 
Index 



PAGE 

9 



. 13 

. 25 

. 65 

. 77 

. 83 

. 93 

. 105 

. 117 

. 131 

. 155 

. 165 

. 179 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Eunice Tripler 

From photograph in 1895 . frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Col. Thomas Hunt 

From painting by Col. House, U.S.A. 13 

Robert Forsythe 

From a daguerreotype, about 1845 . 64 

Dr. Charles S. Tripler 
^From miniature painting, in 1830 . 88 

Eunice Tripler 

From daguerreotype, about 1855 . 110 

Dr. Charles S. Tripler 

From a sketch, in 1861 .... 131 

Eunice Tripler 

From a photograph, in 1867 . • 157 

Dr. Charles S. Tripler 

From a photograph, in 1865 . . 160 

Eunice Tripler 

From an unfinished painting, in 1890 162 

Eunice Tripler 

From a photograph, in 1905 . . 173 



"In a country whose character and cir- 
cumstances are constantly changing, the little 
facts and incidents, which are the life of his- 
tory, soon pass from the minds even of the 
present generation." 



IN EXPLANATION 

For years I tried to induce my Mother-in- 
law to write a brief autobiography for the 
benefit of her Children and Grandchildren. 
She received the proposition with no favour 
and, although she deplored the fact that her 
own Mother had done nothing of the sort, she 
would write out no part of the story of her 
life. A number of years since, however, I 
began, without her observation or knowledge, 
to take short-hand notes of certain conversa- 
tions with her, and, invariably (with one 
single exception) wrote these out in full form 
within the hour — my constant aim being to 
preserve her own forms of expression. In 
preparing these notes for the printer I have 
but thrown them somewhat into chronologi- 
cal order. Much may seem trivial and not 
worthy of permanent record, but yet, being 
for private circulation only, it may be par- 
doned as helping to bring past conditions to 
present remembrance while preserving for 
the family, reminiscences which some of its 
members do not wish to be quite forgotten. 
It would have been easy to add many a re- 
flection of my Mother-in-law on subjects 
spiritual — but I have refrained from almost 

9 




10 Eunice Tripler 

everything not solely objective. Hers was 
a life which knew sorrow in many forms — 
and of her we can sav, in a sense not com- 
mon, ''made perfect through suffering." May 
her pure soul rest in peace and may light 
perpetual shine upon her. 



Iu% iL% /L» 



St. Stephen's Rectory, 
Grand Island, Nebraska, 
May, 1910. 



U6Ui{i ft. ^^^^3 



EUNICE TRIPLER 



SOME FAMILY HISTORY 

In General Alexander Hamilton's account 
of the capture of the Yorktown redoubt in 
the final engagement of the American Revo- 
lution (October, 1781), he states that 
Thomas Hunt (my paternal Grand-Father) 
was wounded by a bayonet thrust. Hugh 
Wynne, in Dr. S. Weir Mitchell's story says 
of this engagement, **I saw Hunt fall." 
My Grand-Father reached the rank of Colonel 
some time after the war. He was in com- 
mand of his regiment however, at the last 
assault at Yorktown. My cousin. Gen. 
Henry I. Hunt, was present at the Centen- 
nial observances there in 1881. He met, on 
the occasion, descendants of the Count de 
Rochambeau who told him of the warm 
friendship between their ancestor and Col. 
Thomas Hunt — and many stories and anec- 
dotes illustrative of their intimacy. The 
Count's Grand-Son said to him, "Why, the 
Hunt name is a household word in our fam- 
ily." In recognition of this old alliance the 
grand fcall on this occasion was formally 
opened by the Grand-Son of the Count de 



14 Eunice Tripler 

Rochambeau and Miss Dollie Hunt (daugh- 
ter of Gen. Henry I. Hunt) then only seven- 
teen years of age. 

My Grand-Father was one of the founders 
of the Society of the Cincinnati. 

My maternal Grand-Father, Robert For- 
sythe, was agent for the Astors in the fur 
trade in Detroit (The North Western Fur 
Co.). One of my Mother's earliest recol- 
lections was that of being carried on her 
Father's shoulder through the great ware- 
houses with narrow walks between the piles 
of pelts over which she was but barely able 
to look. My Grand-Father became an of- 
ficer in the War of 1812, and is referred to 
by Mrs. Emma Willard in her history, "The 
Republic of America" as "that brave partisan 
officer Forsythe." He died while on the 
journey to his home in Detroit after the close 
of the war. His widow made her home in 
Amherstburg, Canada. The children were 
three: Robert, Maria (Kercheval), and Alice 
(Hunt). 

At the time of Hull's surrender my Grand- 
Mother chanced to be at Maiden, Canada, 
where she was protected by an order not 
to molest her on account of her good offices 
to Indians in the past — but my Grand-Father 
had his children with him in Detroit and 
took them for safety into the Fort. My 



Some Family History 15 

Mother, a little girl of ten years, was stand- 
ing in the door of the Fort beside two of- 
ficers who were in consultation. The head 
of one of these officers was taken off by^ a 
cannon-ball and her dress spattered with his 
blood. Thereupon all the women and chil- 
dren were put into the arsenal which my 
Mother described as a dark, damp, under- 
ground dungeon. One of the women, in the 
goodness of her heart, gave the children there 
bread and molasses to eat. The surrender of 
the Fort was not from cowardice on Gen. 
Hull's part but from his sense of responsi- 
bility for the lives of the women and chil- 
dren committed to him. At the time, Hull 
was ill and confined to his bed. The officer 
next in command reported to him that the 
English commander had sent word if the 
Fort did not surrender he would not be able 
to control his Indian allies. It was perfectly 
well known what this meant — the outraging 
of the women, and, in the end, the torture, 
killing and scalping of all. When, at last, 
the Indians came, with the British, into the 
P'ort my Mother saw scalps dangling from 
the belts of many of them. In the American 
Revolution scalps taken by the Indians were 
regularly contracted for by the British — 
and invoiced and delivered like other mer- 
chandise. 



16 Eunice Tripler 

My parents, Thomas Hunt and Alice 
Forsythe, were married in Detroit, 29 Sep- 
tember, 1821, by a Judge Abbott. At the 
time there was no Protestant Minister in the 
place. My Father was born in Watertown, 
Mass., in 1794. His Father (Thos. Hunt) 
being in the Army received orders to go to 
Detroit. The family accompanied him when 
my Father was a little boy. Thence my 
Grand-Father was ordered to Fort Wayne 
(now in Indiana). The trip was made by 
batteaux propelled by oars, through the De- 
troit River, Lake Erie and the Maumee River. 
Camp was made every night on the bank. 
But the family was large and burdensome 
and it was almost impossible to make the 
journey with all the necessities that had to 
be carried. The eldest brother of my Father 
(Henry I.) had already gone into business 
in Detroit and had established an extensive 
trade with the Indians there. On the Fort 
Wayne journey it was therefore decided to 
send back my Uncle George and my Father 
to their Brother in Detroit. On their ar- 
rival they found the town had meantime been 
burned down and a more desolate scene could 
not be imagined. There was no one to re- 
ceive them. The boys sat down on the river 
bank with their arms around each other's 
necks and cried. The eldest Brother was 



Some Family History 17 

soon found, however, and the younger boys 
became associated with him in his business. 
When the War of 1812 broke out, my Father, 
then seventeen, received an appointment as 
Lieutenant. He needed to be mounted and 
borrowed a white horse of his Brother, Henry 
I. Hunt. He was in the battle of Brownstown 
below Detroit. After the engagement the white 
horse was found covered with blood and, for a 
time, my Father was thought to be killed. But 
he had simply lifted a wounded comrade into 
his seat. After Hull's surrender, the de- 
tachment to which my Father belonged, not 
knowing that event, marched to Detroit. The 
flag was down on the Fort, but, before they 
could comprehend the situation, the British 
forces surrounded and took them. And al- 
most immediately began the prisoners' long 
march to Montreal. A companion of my 
Father on this journey was Col. Snelling for 
whom Fort Snelling was named, being the 
first Commandant of the post, and who but 
three days before had been married to my 
Father's sister, Abbie. She, too, accom- 
panied her husband, a cart being provided 
for the two or three women who were so 
taken. Of this fearful journey, over 550 
miles, made entirely afoot, my Father scarcely 
ever spoke in later years. I remember, how- 
ever, his saying that the soldiers suffered 



18 Eunice Tripler 

dreadfully from dysentery but that those who 
ate most freely of ripe peaches as they passed 
certain orchards^ made best recovery. They 
were kept prisoners a long time in Montreal, 
confined in a half -open stockade, or, as Aunt 
Snelling told me, "A pen no better than hogs 
have." As the prisoners were marched 
through the streets of Montreal, they were 
stoned and rotten-egged. No love was lost 
on either side. The atrocities of the British 
Indian allies had put ineradicable hatred in 
the hearts of tlie Americans. My Mother, 
when living as a young girl in Amherstburg 
on the Detroit River, saw the Indians on their 
return from the massacre of the entire village 
on the River Raisin. From their belts were 
hanging scalps, many having the long hair 
of women and others showing the light, soft 
curls of little children. There is nothing in 
this World quite so cruel as a half-drunken 
Indian. The bitter hatred the Americans felt 
for the British was largely because they made 
such allies. It was they who induced the 
Indians to dash across the Detroit River from 
Canada and engage in this massacre (23 
January, 1813). Many of the British dis- 
guised themselves as Indians. 

Just before Hull's surrender, and when his 
troops were expecting to fight, my Uncle 
Snelling (then but two days married to my 



Some Family History 19 

Aunt) rushed into the Fort and exclaimed 
"Abbie, promise me that if I fall, you never 
will marry an Englishman." As a result 
of his Montreal captivity, my Father con- 
tracted rheumatism and a white swelling in 
the right knee. Finally the officers were ex- 
changed and returned to the United States. 
My Father and Col. Snelling came to Boston 
and there my Father had a terrible illness. 
After a time Col. Snelling had to part from 
my Father for duty elsewhere but he left 
money to defray the expenses of my Father's 
burial, fully believing he would die. My 
Father, however, recovered and returned to 
Detroit. The army was soon reorganized. 
It was a good opportunity to squeeze out un- 
desirable officers but my Father was retained. 
My Father's Sister, Ruth, was married to 
Col. Edwards of the Army when but four- 
teen years of age. The marriage took place 
at Fort Wayne, Indiana — having to be very 
unexpectedly consummated on account of my 
Grand Father's being ordered to a post much 
farther West — I think Prairie du Chien. 
My Aunt Snelling was but sixteen years of 
age when she was married at Detroit in 1814. 
The wife of Henry I. Hunt, my Uncle, was 
sister of the Laird of Inches who returned 
to Scotland on succeeding to the title and its 
estates. The family name was Macintosh 



h 



20 Eunice Tripler 

and my Uncle and Aunt were, of course, 
Presbyterians. My Father used to say to 
his sister "Why, Abbie, so far as set prayers 
go it is simply a question as to which form 
you will use. Our form is printed on paper 
and yours on the memory — that's all. Your 
Minister, Mr. Menteith, never prays without 
saying 'Our deeds are like filthy rags' — I 
don't like that. I don't like filthy rags." 

My Uncle, Robert Forsythe, had become 
Private Secretary to Gen. Cass in Detroit. 
His Mother was living in Amherstburg. 
Gen. Cass told him he ought to bring up his 
sisters to Detroit. This he did and my 
Mother and her sister boarded with a Mrs. 
Roby and went to school. There my Father 
met her and they were married when he was 
twenty-seven and she seventeen. Already her 
elder sister, Maria, had married and, as Mrs. 
Kercheval, was living at Fort Wayne, Indiana. 
While visiting her sister, a young Indian Chief 
(title by inheritance, being the son of a 
Chief) tried to make love to her and marry 
her. The occasion was the annual payment 
of the Government pensions to the Indians 
and my Mother in company with ladies of the 
garrison and the village, was watching the 
transaction. The payment was all in silver 
dollars. On getting his money this young 
chief grasped his cash and stalked instantly 



/I 



Some Family History 21 

to the place where my Mother was seated 
and threw it all into her lap. Through the 
live-long night following, he lay on the grass 
before the house, playing softly on the flute 
— one air monotonously over and over again 
— the Indian method of showing devotion. 
My Mother shortened her visit and was sent 
home. Not long afterward she married my 
Father. My Uncle Forsythe bought in New 
York for my Mother's wedding outfit a hand- 
some lilac dress, a large white Leghorn hat 
and lace cape. These she wore when mar- 
ried. My Father's Regiment was soon 
ordered to Prairie du Chien but he was really 
no longer fit for active duty, young as he 
was. And there was no retired list in those 
days. So he was ordered to Washington for 
duty in the Commissary General's office. 
This was the wedding trip. They went to 
Buffalo on the Steamer "Walk-in-the-Water" 
accounted a very fine vessel and the first 
steamer on the lakes. The name was Indian 
in origin. My parents spent two days in 
New York City, and my Mother was greatly 
taken with the attractions of the town — es- 
pecially the "Battery." 

The crossing of New York State was made 
entirely by stage. A few years later we made 
part of the journey Westward by canal which 
was considered a vast improvement. But a 



22 Eunice Tripler 

canalboat cabin was horrible from the entire 
lack of ventilation and because one could not 
move after the table for meals was drawn 
out down the centre. The locks always awed 
me by their high stone sides as we went 
through. I can recall vividly my sensations 
as we sank down and down in a lock — till the 
cabin windows were quite darkened and we 
children clung to one another in fright. 

In my childhood, a barge on the North 
River always followed the steamboat, in tow, 
and, for safety, the passengers invariably 
travelled by the barge. The steamer was 
very small and always of high pressure. 
There was continual discussion of the ques- 
tion, "Is it safe?" for it was assumed to be 
a mere matter of time till every steamer 
should blow up. On the barge, too, a pas- 
senger was free from the sickening odours 
that were always present on the steamer. 
The decks of a canal-boat would be heaped 
with trunks and baggage of all sorts. Great 
paste-board band-boxes were commonly car- 
ried to hold the extraordinary bonnets of 
that day. I have seen a "low bridge" on the 
Erie Canal work great "scatteration" and 
havoc on a heap of baggage. 

My Mother always felt the lack of school 
advantages in early life — for there were no 
such in Amherstburg. She studied very hard 



Some Family History 23 

while she had the opportunity in Detroit — 
and she even continued her studies after her 
first child was born. Her manners were quiet 
and dignified and she had great tact. She was 
thought in Washington to be a remarkable 
representative of Michigan, that "land of 
wild Indians." She used to say that she 
learned very much from Scott's Novels which 
ajDpeared during her early married life. I 
remember my Mother, when I was a child, 
often keeping a spelling-book under her 
pillow. 



\ 



II 

WASHINGTON IN EARLY DAYS 

For six or eight months after their arrival 
in Washington my Parents boarded and then 
began house-keeping. Their move was in all 
ways a pleasant one. My Father was very 
gentle and winning and my Mother had much 
beauty and a most engaging manner and their 
friends were many. The Army circle itself 
was delightful. I was born 11 October, 1822, 
and I had a very happy childhood. My 
Mother was ambitious for me and wanted 
me only with children who were refined. My 
clothes were always right and I never had 
mortification on that ground. The care of us 
children rested on our darky Nurse, "Mammie 
Nellie." She was devoted to our family and 
took the greatest pride in our affairs. It was 
the custom to give household servants a dress 
at Christmas and again on their birthday, 
and turbans and kerchiefs were frequent 
presents. So our Nellie could save nearly all 
her earnings and was quite independent when 
we left the city. Such devoted service I 
greatly missed in the new order of the house- 
hold when we came to Detroit. I was named 

25 



26 Eunice Tripler 

after my Father's Mother, "Eunice Welling- 
ton" but at my Baptism, after my marriage, 
I dropped the second name. My Uncle 
For sy the, on a visit to Washington, requested 
that my little sister might be named after his 
pet. Gen. Cass's daughter, "Ellen." This 
was done. 

We had four servants in our Washington 
home. These were all slaves and their wages 
were paid of course to their owners who in 
turn had but to furnish their clothing. We 
liked this arrangement because, if they mis- 
conducted, we could report them and, at once, 
get rid of them. My Father used to say 
"Never mind what we think of slavery. 
These are our friends about us and we are 
grateful to them for a thousand favours. We 
must not denounce what we may happen to 
question." 

I remember vividly the tremendous thun- 
der-storms of my childhood and how I would 
fly to my Mother for shelter and comfort. She 
used to put us children upon a high feather- 
bed — supposed to be a non-conductor of 
electricity. 

My most intimate playmates were the 
daughters of General Alexander McComb 
and the daughter of General Cass. Toys such 
as are now found in all homes were unknown. 
The only doll which was attractive to a little 



Washington in Early Days 27 

girl was imported and rare. I never^ as a 
child, saw but two and never possessed one. 
The cost was $5.00 and upwards. What we 
had were chopped out of wood by the Indians 
in the roughest manner, always made with 
high back combs and painted. I never had 
a set of doll's dishes in my life. I had some 
doll's furniture but it was of the roughest 
kind. Children's books were few. I can re- 
member having only "The Girls' Own Book'* 
which contained fairy tales like the "Yel- 
low Dwarf," "Gulliver's Travels," "Robinson 
Crusoe" and the "Peter Parley Tales," "The 
Arabian Nights" and one descriptive of cer- 
tain games. Our out-of-door sports were, 
commonly. Archery (with arrows having 
metal points to hold them on the target), 
grace hoops, etc. In-doors we had battle-dore 
and shuttle-cock and various round or ring 
games. As a child I saw little or no decora- 
tion for Christmas. We always hung up our 
stockings — and the first thing Christmas 
morning was to feel at the toe to find out if 
our money was there — usually a 25 cent piece. 
Children were given very little money. A 
penny was great riches ordinarily for this 
would buy six peppermint cakes. 

My only pets were birds. I had a beauti- 
ful Cardinal bird which Purser Watson of the 
Navy brought me from South America, a 



28 Eunice Tripler 

Mocking-bird and a pair of Canaries. Of 
all these I became very fond. 

When I was a very young infant, I was 
vaccinated at three separate points on my 
arm, about one and one half inches apart, 
as was the custom of the time. Many per- 
sons regarded small-pox in the spirit of fatal- 
ism and, as though it were wrong to with- 
stand so direct a visitation of God. Still it 
w^as so common a scourge there was universal 
fear of it and inoculation for the disease it- 
self was by no means rare — for this was be- 
lieved to induce a milder type of the malady. 
Travel by stage-coach was thought to expose 
one specially — but, in truth, people did not 
know and then, as now, ignorance begot talk 
— and I well remember the long and earnest 
wranglings on the subject. 

The Church seemed dead in Washington. 
Parson Hawley (always called "Captain'* 
Hawley on account of his army service) was 
the Rector of St. John's Church which we at- 
tended. He always wore a wig and small 
clothes and a Clerk made the responses in 
service. Captain Hawley preached, of course, 
not in the surplice but in the black gown, 
which was the universal custom of my child- 
hood, the change from surplice to gown being 
made just before the commencement of the 
sermon. The organ was above and behind 



Washington in Early Days 29 

the pulpit which latter was the old-fashioned 
three-decker. Directly back of the pulpit 
(but beneath the organ) was the shelf which 
served as the Communion Table. My Father, 
on account of his lameness, always stood 
through the prayers for he could not kneel 
and would not sit. A Mr. Goldsborough, the 
Father of two Admirals of our Navy, used 
to dilate on the beauty of the service but I 
was hardly so impressed as I might have 
been. I remember the English Minister, Sir 
Charles Vaughn, had the next pew to ours 
and he used to pray into his hat. Sir Charles 
was a very heavy man, over- fed apparently, 
and with swelled eyes. His chief clerk was 
a Mr. Bankhead who was a very true gentle- 
man. Mr. Bankhead and his wife were often 
at our house. Mrs. Bankhead was a delicate 
woman with a slight frame but her voice 
was tremendous — most remarkable for a 
woman. 

Everybody drank in those days and all 
Englishmen, as it seemed, swore. It was 
*'Damme this" and "Damme that" continu- 
ally. In the pew of Sir Charles I remem- 
ber seeing Fanny Kemble on one occasion and 
how I was just able to get my chin over the 
edge so as to look well into that pew. There 
was a step up from the aisle into the pew 
and a bench for kneeling along the front. On 



so Eunice Tripler 

this bench I used to stand. I remember well 
seeing Bishop William White in St. John's 
and I recall vividly the little skull cap he used 
to wear. He was very aged at this time and 
trembled much. The Communion Service I 
never heard in any part as a child in Washing- 
ton. Even when engaged to Dr. Tripler, in 
Detroit, I could not understand his loyal at- 
tendance at the Communion. 

Mr. Goldsborough used to make me pres- 
ents of books and talk with me about the 
beauties of style in the works of Pope and 
Lady Mary Wortley Montague. I think now 
this was rather a singular topic to be dis- 
cussed with a child of my age. We left Wash- 
ington before I was fourteen. Mr. Golds- 
borough greatly admired the stilted phrases 
of these authors, but, for myself, I have al- 
ways hated fine writing. Two sons of Mr. 
Goldsborough, Lewis and John, became Ad- 
mirals in our Navy. A third son, Hugh Allen, 
entered civil life. 

President Jackson attended St. John's. I 
used often to see him walking to and fro in 
front of the White House sunning himself. I 
remember one day when I was wearing a sun- 
bonnet President Jackson stopped me on the 
walk in front of the White House and patted 
my head and asked me if I went to Mr. Has- 
kell's school. He knew all the local insti- 



Washington in Early Days 31 

tutions. I remember his white hair brushed 
straight up from his forehead — and how his 
h)ng legs seemed to span the sidewalk. His 
countenance by most people was thought hard 
and repellant — but he was very friendly and 
benevolent to us children. I always felt I 
had a side-walk acquaintance with him. 

The demonstration on each 8th January 
(New Orleans) was something a child could 
never forget — tlie firing of guns in the morn- 
ing, later a parade of the marines and other 
organizations, the formal calling on Pres. 
Jackson by all the officers in Washington, 
(my Father, of course, in full uniform with 
sword and plumed chapeau), and, lastly, a 
grand ball in the evening. 

There were but four departments in the 
general administration of the Government, 
State, Treasury, War and Navy. These de- 
partments occupied four separate buildings at 
the corners of the square in the centre of 
which stood and still stands the White House. 
We children would ramble through the halls of 
the War Department Building for its refresh- 
ing coolness. My Father was on duty, as Cap- 
tain, in the Commissary General's office of the 
War Department. The army numbered but 
8,000 men and there was little to do. There 
were three clerks onlj'- with my Father in his 
room. Gen. Gibson was Commissary General. 



32 Eunice Tripler 

The father of Gen. E. O. C. Ord was a mes- 
senger in this department. He was the re- 
puted son of George IV of England and Mrs. 
Fitzherbert "his lawful wife" — though this 
was unknown to me till many years later. I 
remember him distinctly as a man of gentle 
demeanor and manifestly high breeding. In 
the office there was also on duty a Maj. Hook. 
Gen. Gibson always took much notice of me. 
His testimony was of much value to my 
Mother when she was applying for her pen- 
sion — for he and my Father were prisoners 
together. 

In writing every one used black sand to dry 
the ink and soft vermilion wafers to seal the 
letter when folded. Envelopes were un- 
known. Our only pens were quills. Pen- 
making was really an art. Not every one 
could make a good pen. Neither was it good 
form not to write legibly — a very different 
standard from that of to-dav. I used to 
empty the sand from all the boxes of my 
Father's office into a large paper on the floor 
for play and afterwards carefully distribute 
it again. 

All pins, in my childhood, were of English 
manufacture, the head being made of a sepa- 
rate piece of wire twisted on. They were 
rough in their finish and often hurt the fingers 
in use. And they were expensive. If a pin 



Washington in Early Days S3 

were dropped, it was always hunted for till 
found. 

At about the age of four years I saw Gen. 
Lafayette many times. He was a stupid- 
looking man with high shoulders. He used 
to take me on his lap and talk to me about his 
little Grand-daughter in France. I remem- 
ber wearing a little pair of yellow kid shoes 
with an outline picture of Lafayette stamped 
on the toe. Everything then bore his picture. 
I remember showing my shoes to Lafayette 
and they amused him much. The meeting 
with him came about thus. Gen. Bernard of 
our Army was an intimate friend of Lafayette 
and lived just around the corner from our 
house. While in Washington Lafayette 
stayed at his home. He was a Frenchman by 
birth, at the head of the Engineer Corps and 
had come to this country at the time of the 
American Revolution under the influence of 
Lafayette and remained here. My Father 
called on Lafayette, well knowing the service 
his own Father had had with Lafayette at 
Yorktown during the Revolution and Lafay- 
ette used, then, to come to our house. He 
used to walk round the corner from Gen. 
Bernard's house to our home and sit with my 
Father on the small front portico and tell 
him funny experiences and escapades of my 
liGrand Father in the Yorktown Campaign. 



S4f Eunice Tripler 

I am exceedingly sorry I have never known 
just what these were. Lafayette would send 
Sophie Bernard round to our house to get me 
and then lie would pet me and give me sweets 
and nuts such as no child of four or five years 
ought ever to have. My Father was the envy 
of the neighborhood from these attentions of 
the great man of the day. 

I have sometimes thought the limp which 
always marked my Father's walk must at first 
have aroused the curiosity of Lafayette and 
when he understood its cause^ must have ex- 
cited his interest. Lafayette was about two 
3'ears in this country and was much of the 
time in Washington in the interest of a cer- 
tain bill by which Congress finally gave him 
$200^000^ and a township of land. He had 
lost his fortune in the French Revolution. Our 
house was on the corner of F St. and 17th. 
Wlien coming from Pennsylvania Avenue we 
would pass by the South side of the White 
House for shortness. When I went East in 
1856 to meet Dr. Tripler on his return from 
California, I found the site of our house, but 
much was changed. F St. itself was being 
then cut down and graded at that point and 
all was confusion. I found, however, just 
round the corner the place where, as a child, 
I used to buy gingerbread "horse-cakes." I 
had gone to that shop hand in hand with 



Washington in Early Days 35 

Lafayette when only three or four years old 
- — and remembered it well. I was not permit- 
ted to forget it. There can be but few per- 
sons now living in this country who touched 
Lafayette, and whom he kissed. 

At some factory town in Massachusetts La- 
fayette was moved by the sight of "three miles 
of green j)arasols" carried by the working 
girls and he compared this with conditions 
in France where such a thing could not be 
seen. At this time all parasols were green — • 
the only color thought to be safe for the eyes. 

Hatred of the British I drew in with my 
Mother's milk. My Father's crippled state 
was an object lesson always before me. And 
from the time when Lafayette was so often 
at our house the good will and friendliness of 
the French were correspondingly dwelt upon. 

My Father always kept a horse, one of his 
army allowances being for its feed. By this 
horse, "Rhoderick" by name, I came near my 
death when about four years old. I was upon 
liis back when he suddenly bolted away from 
the servant and into the stable — and I had a 
narrow escape from being crushed. 

My Mother used to take me to hear great 
debates in Congress, but all that interested me 
I was the sight of the crowds. My Father, 
Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were all 
I members of the same card club and met 



36 Eunice Tripler 

weekly. But my Father did not remain long 
an active member — because the play was too 
high for him. Gen. Gratiot we knew inti- 
mately. I was often with the daughters of 
Lewis Maclean and at their house I met 
Washington Irving repeatedly. I remember 
his coming into the room suddenly where we 
were playing "Hide and Seek" and my fear 
lest he should sit down on the divan under 
which I was hid. The Maclean girls used to 
stick pins in his favorite chair. Lydia Mac- 
lean married Gen. Joe Johnston. I remem- 
ber Martin Van Buren well. At this time he 
was in Jackson's cabinet. His son, "Prince 
John" as he was called, went abroad and was 
most favorably received by the young Queen 
Victoria. I recall Martin Van Buren's foxy 
red hair brushed straight out from the sides. 
I remember going once with a party to the 
"Great Falls" of the Potomac above the city 
— and being much impressed by them. The 
handsomest house in Washington belonged to 
Capt. Kuhn of the Navy. He owned a tract 
of land between Washington proper and 
Georgetown and had built this large brick 
house with a ball-room attached. Capt. Kuhn 
had married a lady in the Island of Malta and 
with their daughter I was quite intimate. I 
well remember how awed I was by the echo 
of our footsteps as we girls walked across the 



Washington in Early Days 37 

polished floor of this ball-room. Changes 
came in the Kuhn household, the family was 
scattered and the beautiful home was occu- 
pied by a Baron Krudener, a diplomat. 

A Capt. Mellen of the Army, stationed at 
Old Point Comfort, Va., wrote my Father of 
liis pressing need of money and offering to 
sell his piano. My Father had been urged by 
some of our friends to have me taught the 
instrument. He wrote to Capt. Mellen ex- 
plaining that he had many uses for his money 
and could make but a small payment down. 
The offer was gladly accepted, however, and 
I got the piano very soon. The instrument 
would look very queer in these days. It was 
hardly larger than a modern sewing-machine 
— of about 4 octaves only — of European 
manufacture — with bands of brass round the 
fluted legs — one pedal — and the yellowest of 
yellow keys. It is hard to call the tinkle it 
made music. I was at the time no more than 
seven or eight years old. A friend of mine, 
Salvadora Mead, daughter of Com. Mead, took 
lessons of a Mr. Pleische, a German, and by 
him I, too, was instructed. I could hardly un- 
derstand his English. My Father got me a bet- 
ter piano shortly before we left Washington. 
The old-fashioned music one was expected to 
know was very trifling. A little ability to 
f sing was thought desirable. The usual selec- 



38 Eunice Tripler 

tions were such as "Days of Absence/' "The 
Harp that once through Tara's Halls/' "The 
Last Rose of Summer." The songs most sung 
were Burns', Tom Moore's and Byron's. The 
Woodbury mansion on Lafayette Square I 
knew well. Levi Woodbury was Secretary 
of War in Jackson's Cabinet. There were 
three daughters — and it was the second of 
these, Frank or Frances, I knew best, being 
her class-mate in school. Her elder sister, 
Lizzie, married Montgomery Blair, Lincoln's 
iirst Postmaster General. With her I re- 
newed my acquaintance in the Winter of 1861- 
'62 while I was in Washington with my hus- 
band. 

The two daughters of Chief Justice Taney 
I remember seeing at our house and hearing 
them talk of certain beaux and their atten- 
tions. I have no memory of their father. The 
home of the Taneys was on the street fronting 
the White House, corresponding in location to 
the house of Secretary Levi Woodburj'-. The 
daughters of Amos Kendall, Postmaster Gen- 
eral in Jackson's Cabinet, were also school- 
mates of mine whom I remember. 

My Father always read the "National In- 
telligencer," Gales and Seaton, editors. I re- 
member vividly his discussing this paper on 
our front porch with Mr. Goldsborough, Col. 
Turnbull of the Topographical Engineers (at 



Washington in Early Days Ss 

this time engaged on the Georgetown aque- 
duct) and Mr. Fillebrown, who had just lost 
his clerkship in one of the departments. 
When this occurred the Fillebrown family 
was in real need and every day food from our 
table was sent to their home. It was at the 
time thought ]\Ir. Fillebrown would be rein- 
stated, but he never was — for he could not 
keep from violent speech against the j.\dmin- 
istration. He was a Clay man. My Father 
used to say it was neither patriotic nor seemly 
for a government employee to abuse those in 
power. He had already lived long enough 
to see both sides. Scott Fillebrown, a son of 
our friend, became afterward a Naval officer 
of high rank. 

Victoria Gratiot, a clever girl, two years 
older than I, and the daughter of Gen. Gra- 
tiot, Chief of Engineers, was an intimate 
friend of whom I was very fond. She mar- 
ried Count Montholon, Minister of France to 
this country, the son of Montholon, the com- 
panion of the first Napoleon at St. Helena. 
Her marriage was the result of ambition and 
turned out most unfortunately. Lewis Cass 
told me of her life in Paris, where I believe 
she passed most of her later years in gam- 
bling. 

I knew Gen. Jacob Brown, Commanding 
General of the Army. I was intimate with 
his daughter Kate, and often at their house, 



J Eunice Tripler 

where my Mother, too, frequently visited. I 
have a vivid memory of the General, tall, thin 
and of dark complexion. On the death of 
Gen. Brown (no retirement for age in those 
days) Gen. Alexander McComb succeeded to 
the post. His daughter Jane, three weeks 
older than I, was my class-mate and play- 
mate, as was also Matilda Cass. Of course I 
was often at Gen. McComb's. He was a bon 
vivant, very gross-looking and loaded with 
fat. His second wife brought him much 
wealth and, the first thing after marrying 
him, paid up his old debts. Gen. McComb 
was succeeded by Gen. Winiield Scott. 

In our Washington life the families with 
whom we were most intimate and all of whom 
had homes not far from our own were these: 
the Gratiot, the Ramsey, the TurnbuU, the 
Cass, the Goldsborough, and the Hagner. 
The wife of Major Turnbull had the first ice- 
chest I ever saw in use. It was made in Phila- 
delphia, where nearly all our novelties came 
from, and was looked on as a curiosity. It 
was but a small affair, very unscientific in ar- 
rangement, with three compartments which all 
opened from above and which had lids lined 
with green baize. The ice was put into a re- 
ceptacle below. 

We had many friends among the officers of 
the Navy Yard, e. g.. Com. Stuart, the Great 



Washington in Early Days 41 

Grandfather of Charles Stuart Parnell and 
Capt, Ramsey. A Russian ship, the "Ken- 
sington," had been deserted at sea but picked 
up and brought to port by American sailors — 
and then returned by our Government to Rus- 
sia. Capt. Ramsey was in command. On his 
return he was loaded with presents, among 
them a ring with an oval one and a half inches 
in length encrusted with jewels. This ring 
was given in form to Mrs. Ramsey and was 
retained by her, but all gifts made to the Cap- 
tain had to be returned. Capt. Ramsey gave 
my Mother the fur lining to a large cloak. He 
was always kissing me. At the Ramsey home 
I remember meeting Count von Stackleburg, 
the German minister, who was rather inti- 
mate with the family. He was a man of mid- 
dle life, with hair prematurely white and a 
face deeply marked by the small-pox. He 
was quite a social leader of the young, but 
had done little or nothing to accredit himself 
with thos^ older, when Washington was vis- 
ited by the small-pox. The Count, being him- 
self immune, went into the principal small- 
pox hospitals and served as an attendant of 
the sick. His sacrifice and devotion endeared 
him at once to the heart of the citizens. The 
man seemed really to be a union of contrarie- 
ties. Coming from a social entertainment 
once at exactly midnight, the Count said to 



42 Eunice Tripler 

his companions^ in perfect seriousness, "Well, 
now, boys, where shall we go to spend the 
evening?" 

Elderly women generally wore black silk 
skirts and a kerchief crossed over the breast. 
Often there was an astonishing turban for a 
head covering and frequently black mitts on 
the hands. A slit cut in the skirt admitted 
the hand to a pocket, which was tied on as a 
bag below. In this there were a red silk 
handkerchief and a white one for display, a 
silver snuff box and a small nutmeg grater. 
By the use of this last each woman could de- 
termine the amount of spice in her sangaree 
(a drink of wine, water and sugar) or her 
negus (a hot drink). I was often disgusted 
by all this. 

I think it was not till after our going 
to Detroit in 1836 that I first saw gran-' 
ulated sugar. The white sugar of my child- 
hood all came in large loaves or rather pyra- 
mids and had to be broken up for use with 
knife and hammer or sometimes nippers. 
This in itself was no light task. Loaf sugar 
when sold was always wrapped in dark blue 
paper — kept in place by a cap of the same 
paper — which fitted over the top of the loaf. 

Nearly all gentlemen used snuff, a silver 
snuff-box being most commonlv carried. 
Wealthy men carried a gold box — often en- 



Washington in Early Days 43 

riched with jewels. In taking the box from 
the pocket for use or to offer it to a friend, 
it was the invariable custom to tap the lid 
smartly before opening. This was to assure 
that no snuff was adhering to the lid. In my 
childhood the very height of personal praise 
a man could receive was in the encomium, 
"You are a gentleman and a scholar and a 
Revolutionary officer." This was like a charter 
oi nobility. 

When callers came a stately colored waiter 
would march into the parlor bearing a salver 
with wine, cordial or some French liqueur in 
tiny glasses — and very black cake. Refresh- 
ments were invariably offered to visitors. 

I had heard for some time of the new 
French delicacy "ice cream" before I ever saw 
any. My Motlier had told me of tasting it at 
a party at the French Ambassador's, where 
it was served in small forms to represent 
fruit and brought in to the company by the 
waiters on very large salvers which they car- 
ried above their heads. The guests were so 
impatient for it there was great disorder. 

The only provision for heating houses was 
by open fire-places. I can remember seeing 
but one stove in Washington and that was in 
my Mother's room not long before we left the 
city for Detroit. On the brick hearth would 
be left at night a saucer or cup of whale oil 



44 Eunice Tripler 

with a disc floating a wick which kept fire — 
for we had no such convenience as friction 
matches. Our living-rooms were lighted only 
by candles. I remember well the use of the 
flint and steel and the necessary tinder or 
punk. The principal fire-place in our home 
was large enough for me when a child of six 
or eight years to stand up in easily. The 
great back-log would be rolled into place by 
two negro servants and would last for two 
days or more — the larger part of the fire be- 
ing in front — from the wood built up and 
around the "dogs" or andirons. Some of our 
negro servants, men, seemed to have intelli- 
gence only sufficient to select and place a good 
back-log. They were deeply sunken men- 
tally. 

One Washington sight always gave me 
inexpressible pain. It was that of the little 
darkey chimney-sweeps by whom every house 
had to be visited for safety every six or eight 
months. These boys were in charge of mas- 
ters who hired them, of course, from their 
owners — since they were slaves. The little 
fellows went about clad in one garment only — 
a blanket which fastened close around their 
necks and their poor eyes were always in- 
flamed and red and weeping from the soot 
and their elbows and knees raw and bleeding. 
There were cases where the owner of a house 



Washington in Early Days 45 

was prosecuted at law for the narrowness of 
his chimney and the danger of its cleaning. 
The cruel master of a boy would push the poor 
little fellow whimpering into the chimney at 
the hearth and if he thought the boy was not 
making proper effort to get through a tight 
flue he would sometimes kindle paper or straw 
in the chimney so that the heat and smoke 
would force the boy upward. Once at the 
top of the chimney every sweep had a little 
call or cry by which he announced his arrival, 
but, of course, he had his painful descent still 
to make. I got so at last that when I knew 
this work was to be done at our house I would 
run away from the neighborhood and remain 
away until it was all over. I can recall now 
vividly the face of one of these cruel masters, 
and I recall, too, the joy I felt in hearing of 
this man's sudden death and realizing his days 
of maltreating little boys were at last ended. 
It was in my childhood that the first India- 
rubber shoes were made, and rough articles 
they were — the gum being poured by hand 
over or around a mould. There was generally 
a heavy lump of rubber on the inside of the 
toe, while the heel would be sometimes high 
and sometimes low — in the latter case almost 
impossible to keep on. The question would 
be asked if you wished your shoes high or low 
and, if the latter, they would be at once cut 



46 Eunice Tripler 

down by a sharp knife to the height indicated 
— though the chances were against both your 
slioes being the same height. 

I have seen in my life the greatest change 
in the drinking habits of the people generally. 
In our Washington home, immediately after 
breakfast, each day, my Mother would over- 
see the silver and glass at the sideboard. The 
waiter, in a white apron, would bring to her 
the decanters to be refilled — with gin (Hol- 
lands was much drunk), brandy and wines 
(Madeira and Sherry). I never saw whiskey 
nor beer. I made the acquaintance of porter 
after my first child was born, when it was 
prescribed for me. 

In my childhood duelling was very com- 
mon among officers of the Army and Navy 
and among members of the "fast set." Some- 
times staid and sober men who ought to have 
known better, moved by a venomous and bit- 
ter hate, would go out. Women, whose names 
had become prominent in the quarrels, some- 
times fled the country for shame's sake. A 
man who had defended his honour, as the ex- 
pression was, was looked up to as worthy of 
emulation. The usual place of meeting from 
Washington was Bladensburgh and often, 
after the first shot, the quarrel would be com- 
posed — honour having been now satisfied. 
Frequently one duel would provoke another. 



Washington in Early Days 47 

We knew quite well a Major Hook of the 
Army who had some years before been shot 
through both legs in a duel. His gait was 
very peculiar. He used to join my Father 
and me in our morning horse-back rides. 

Our friends in Washington were as intelli- 
gent^ as cultivated and as refined as any circle 
to be found anywhere in the country at the 
time. Yet social custom was such that I early 
learned as a child to get out of the way of cer- 
tain men who visited at our house. I could 
not bear to be caressed and kissed by men who 
were intoxicated and I would not stand it. 
Many of my Parents' neighbors and intimate 
friends had slaves as domestic servants and 
therefore no wages to pay. So far as table 
manners and etiquette are concerned I feel 
quite sure that the ordinary observances of 
the time when I was a child were better than 
customs now. One seldom or never saw a 
household which was lacking a sufficient num- 
ber of servants, and these servants were all 
trained. The children, too, were sure to be 
quiet and mannerly. The table service and 
furnishing were perhaps not quite so elaborate 
as what one may see to-day, but all articles 
were better cared for. Table forks had but 
two prongs and it was quite impossible to use 
them for eating peas. Knives and forks, too, 
had almost universally handles of horn and 



48 Eunice Tripler 

these often were silver mounted, but they 
would be skewy and unlike others of the set. 
Ivory handles came into use later but, almost 
invariably, the ivory became checked and 
cracked. 

In the painting in the rotunda of the Cap- 
itol, the "Baptism of Pocahontas" (now re- 
produced on the back of the $20 green-backs), 
I was taken as the model of a page. In my 
Father's office one day the artist (I think his 
name was Chapman) said he wanted my head. 
My Father laughed and said, "Only on Sat- 
urdays." So every Saturday for a number 
of weeks I came to the office to sit for him. 
The likeness was apparent to all my friends 
when the painting was completed. This was 
about 1832. The figure for which I sat is in 
the left foreground of the picture. In the 
painting "Chapultepec" in the Capitol there 
is a portrait of my Cousin Henry I. Hunt in- 
troduced. A picture of the Senate, also in 
the Capitol, has a portrait of my Mother sit- 
ting in the gallery, in a yellow satin dress, 
so that our family is thrice represented in the 
building. However, I understand this picture 
of the Senate of late years has been hung in 
the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington. 

The house directly opposite our Washing- 
ton home was occupied by the family of a Mr. 
^ Houston, who was a brother of Sam Houston, 



Washington in Early Days 49 

the Governor of Texas. This Mr. Houston 
was much at our house and always talking of 
his brother Sam. 

Gen. Towson (who served in the war of 
1812) lived just opposite the Navy Depart- 
ment — and the home of most of the cabinet 
officers and the principal foreign ministers 
fronted on Lafayette Square. Next to our 
house and on the corner of F Street lived 
Gen. Gratiot. Directly opposite upon the 
corner lived Gen. Alexander Ramsey, Sec- 
retary of War — and opposite him, but di- 
agonally opposite Gen. Gratiot's, was the 
home of the Pleasantons, but a half square 
from our house. Clementina Pleasanton, her 
sister and I used to play in the front yard of 
the Pleasanton home, lock arms and walk up 
and down in our deep sun-bonnets which I 
hated. I remember seeing Martin Van Buren 
enter this house for a call, while we girls com- 
mented on his bald head and stiffly growing 
whiskers. James Buchanan was also an inti- 
mate friend of the Pleasantons. I remember 
well his portly figure and how he would often 
stop to speak to us girls and to stroke my 
head. I can just remember once seeing John 
Quincy Adams when I was very young. He 
was, however, at a distance when pointed out 
to me as the President. I never met him in 
person. , 



50 Eunice Tripler 

Martin Van Buren was quite undersized as a 
man. It would have been an impossible thing 
for him ever to have assumed any nobility of 
bearing. His sons John and Abram were 
often at our house, the latter the more fre- 
quently, as he belonged to a certain card club 
which met weekly at the houses of the mem- 
bers. He used to borrow and wear a certain 
uniform suit of my Father's for evening com- 
panies, and when at last my Father resigned 
from the army and was about to move to De- 
troit Abram Van Buren came to my Father 
to ask if he could buy the uniform. Of course 
my Father was very glad to sell it to him. 
At this time Martin Van Buren was in Jack- 
son's cabinet. 

The Cass home was on G. St. immediately in 
the rear of our house. An opening was made 
in the fence so that we could pass backward 
and forward, and the families were very in- 
timate. Of course Mrs. Cass had known my 
Mother in Detroit. In her own early home 
in Virginia there were shoals of slaves, and 
it was a change indeed when she came as a 
young wife to Detroit, where she had as ser- 
vant only one young Indian. Mrs. Cass was 
such an invalid that she could take no social 
duty. During their first Winter in Washing- 
ton, therefore. Gen. Cass sent for the wife of 
Gen. John E. Wool of Troy, N. Y., to come 



Washingtox in Early Days 51 

to Washington and matronize his three daugh- 
ters. As the second Winter approached, he 
was asked if the arrangement would be re- 
peated. "No/' he replied, "Mrs. Hunt will 
succeed to that post." And my Mother did 
this with tact and great credit to herself. 

My Mother had a beautiful figure and a 
strikingly handsome face. She was vivacious 
and a fine dancer and, naturally, was in great 
demand at all festivities. On one occasion 
Sir Charles Vaughn gave a large entertain- 
ment in honour of certain English visitors in 
Washington. An invitation was sent to my 
Mother but none to my Father. My Mother 
promptly sent a polite declination. This 
brought Sir Charles himself to our house to 
importune my Mother. He said to her, "Mrs. 
Hunt, I wish especially to show our American 
beauties to our English friends." "But," 
said my Mother, "my husband, Capt. Hunt, 
is not invited." "Oh, Hunt," said Sir Charles, 
"Oh, damn Hunt." My Mother said no word, 
but rose and stood perfectly erect before him. 
It was her house and he, of course, saw the 
interview had ended and took his departure. 

In my childhood the Capitol was completed, 
but not the wings as now. There was a field 
with rank, coarse grass on the North side of 
the White House. Not long before we left, 
Pennsylvania Avenue was macadamized, but 



52 Eunice Tripler 

the sides were rough and made horrible walk- 
ing, a central rut only having been worn 
smooth by vehicles. There was a double row 
of Lombardy poplars on this avenue from the 
White House to the Capitol. Some ever- 
greens and a few deciduous trees had been 
planted in the White House grounds — but all 
seemed untrimmed and uncared for. 

The summers were frightfully hot. Frogs 
and mosquitoes came from the marshes. My 
Sister and I took turns in fanning one another 
to sleep at night. Red brick sidewalks were 
everywhere. The school I attended was next 
to St. John's Church. I remember very well 
the coarsely printed little blue covered primer 
out of which I learned my letters. The syl- 
lables, ba, be, bi, bo, bu, and ca, ce, ci, co, cu, 
and so on down through the alphabet, were 
arranged in columns. There were a few wretch- 
edly drawn, grotesque woodcuts by way of il- 
lustration. The profiles of men and boys were 
ludicrously awry. There is hardly a school boy 
to-day who could not do better with his pen- 
cil. Apples on a tree would be about the size 
of pumpkins, and a boy would be as tall as 
the tree. The pasteboard cover of this primer 
was so coarse that pieces of the cloth out of 
which it was made were quite visible. The 
geography we used was by the Dane, 
Malte-Brun. I well remember a picture the 



Washington in Early Days 53 

book contained representing the Japanese 
people in the act of trampling upon the Cross. 
In the light of comparatively recent events 
and the opening of the Japanese Empire to 
Christian civilization, this seems to me sig- 
nificant. 

My private school teachers in order of time 
were Mr. and Mrs. Haskell, Mr. Young, Miss 
Heeny and a Miss English (in Georgetown). 
An Italian, named Carusi, taught us dancing. 
Nearly all would be called "square dances'* 
now though the waltz was popular and I was, 
of course, taught it. On the first of every 
May this Carusi gave a May party at his es- 
tablishment which was very popular. A 
"Queen of the May" was selected from his 
older and more advanced pupils and twelve 
"Maids of Honor" were appointed, and these 
in turn were followed by a train of "Floras," 
being young girls from 5 to 12 years of age, 
all trained to take place in procession, the 
Queen bringing up the rear and being pre- 
ceded by the youngest child bearing the crown 
on a cushion and advancing to the steps of the 
throne. All the girls wore wreaths on the 
head and garlands of flowers depending from 
the shoulder to the opposite side and scattered 
flowers on the Queen's path. Carusi himself 
always held the youngest child by the hand 
lest she should drop the crown. The whole 



54 Eunice Tripler 

formed a very beautiful sight and the attrac- 
tion was sufficient to fill Carusi's Hall, then 
the largest place of assembly in the city, with 
the elite of Washington. Carusi was himself 
a typical Italian, of most swarthy complexion ; 
lie wore short clothes and pumps and turned 
out his toes in true dancing master style. 
The old-fashioned curtsy was always taught 
in our dancing-school — the putting one foot 
with a slide behind the other and bending 
both knees with a bow. The curtsy occurred 
in the figures of many dances — each lady 
making this salute to her partner at the open- 
ing of any dance. To me there seems to be 
no grace in modern dancing, for there is no 
opportunity for the personal attentions be- 
tween partners to which, in my youth, I was 
accustomed. I have never looked on dancing 
as being entirely frivolous. It betokens a 
light heart and a good conscience. I believe 
few persons care to dance when conscience- 
stricken. 

Mons. DeLeon taught me French and walk- 
ing out with me made me recite "Telemachus" 
and correct his reciting or reading of the 
"Vicar of Wakefield." I had also as teachers 
of French a Miss DePue and a Miss Hauel. 
We had no long Summer vacation. I was 
made quite a pet by my French teacher and 
got a good start in the language very early. 



Washington in Early Days 55 

A Mr. Eugene Vaile who was connected with 
the French Embassy kept house with two sis- 
ters in the "Seven Buildings" on Pennsylvania 
Avenue and they would come and get me and 
talk French with me and then take me to my 
Mother that she might hear what I had just 
been taught. This all encouraged me and 
made me like the language too. At this time 
I was about six years old. The Cass family 
had brought from France a great quantity of 
French books — and of all these I had the use 
later. The Cass daughters all spoke French 
and I was much with them. When out of 
other reading-matter_, how often have I got- 
ten a French play or novel from the Cass 
library! — I have read current French litera- 
ture with ease and delight since I was eleven 
years old. 

Nearly one half of the money in circula- 
tion seemed to be English coin. A shilling, 
however, always meant the New York shill- 
ing, i. e., 123^ cents. The arithmetic I used 
was full of examples in reduction puzzling to 
a child and long columns of amounts to be 
added in 6l/4, 121/^ and 183/4 cents. 

My Mother knew the wife of Joseph Bona- 
parte who was the daughter of Commodore 
Patterson of our Navy. My Parents were 
intimate with the family of William Wirt, the 
eminent author and lawyer and Anti-Masonic 



56 Eunice Tripler 

candidate for the Presidency in 1832. His 
house was near the Hagner home on G Street 
— a large brick house, grown dark with a 
covering of green mould. 

In the Washington I knew as a child there 
were no street cars, no public schools, no pave- 
ments, no public sewers, no friction matches, 
no telegraphs, telephones, daguerreotypes 
nor photographs, no cheap postage, no city 
water and scarcely any street lamps. A lit- 
tle attempt was made to light the chief thor- 
oughfares with oil lamps at certain corners. 
All ordinary lamps smelled horribly. In the 
theatres this nuisance was overpowering. 
But people seemed to throng the theatres. I 
was taken, for example, young as I then was, 
to see Fanny Kemble play Juliet to her 
Father's Romeo. I saw Joseph Jefferson 
(the Father of the creator of "Rip-Van- 
Winkle") as Dogberry. It was quite custom- 
ary for the audience to eat oranges during the 
performance and throw the peel anywhere on 
the floor. I often went to horse-races. My 
Mother and everyone would bet gloves or any- 
thing that struck their fancy. The question of 
propriety was never raised. The foreign ele- 
ment, the French especially, were very de- 
terminate of social forms in Washington. My 
parents played cards frequently and for 
money. Everybody did so then. The game 



Washington in Early Days 57 

was "Loo" and the counters were pieces of 
mother-of-pearl and in form of a fish — rather 
handsome toys in themselves. People bet on 
anything and everything — on whether it 
would rain to-morrow or the next day — on 
whether Jack would win his present bet or 
whether Jim would lose. Gamblers often 
came from other cities bringing new tricks 
and simply proving themselves robbers. 

Child as I was, I instinctively felt this 
gambling was all wrong. I have seen my 
Father grow pale on comparing notes with my 
Mother, at learning they both had lost, at 
different tables. 

I remember I went to a circus once and, 
with some other children, had a ride in a 
howdah on an elephant. I can recall now 
vividly our sensations from the movements of 
the great beast. I remember seeing a play in 
Ford's Theatre long afterward the scene of 
the awful tragedy of Lincoln's assassination. 
As I recall it, it was not a very large place 
of entertainment. 

There was always the greatest respect 
shown to age and deference to those in high 
office — very different from customs now. 
Washington life, as I recall it, was quite 
aristocratic and showed a marked tendency 
toward class distinction. It was a real shock 
to me, after our move to Detroit, to see young 



58 Eunice Tripler 

women engage in general conversation with 
shop clerks over the counter. 

We used to walk out to "Camp Hill/' west 
of the White House, for the sake of the view 
which we would enjoy while seated on one 
of the great stones there projecting from the 
ground. I believe, by the process of grading, 
the attractions of this spot have long since 
disappeared. Washington was supplied with 
water only by pumps, one on each square, 
through the city. It was a daily sight, the line 
of darkeys waiting with their two pails, for 
their turn at the pump. Darkey women 
would carry three pails, one on the head. 
There was small chance to put out a fire when 
once started. I remember the long line of 
fire-buckets in the government buildings. 

Bill-boards were never obtrusive in posi- 
tion nor immodest in design. Indeed, ad- 
vertising boards of any sort were rare in the 
streets except at the doors of the theatres. 

There was a good market near our house 
and a servant, a free colored man, always at- 
tended my Father with a basket to bring 
home his purchases. This servant, when we 
left Washington, went to Gen. Cass and Mrs. 
Cass pronounced him the best servant they 
ever had. 

My Father was of a rather delicate 
physique. His fearful experiences in 1814 had 



Washington in Early Days 59 

permanently impaired his health. I can see 
my Mother now meeting him at the gate when 
he reached home in Summer from the office, 
white with exhaustion and heat, and refresh- 
ing him with a drink of cold whiskey and 
water. 

The greatest care was taken of the com- 
plexion. We used for ordinary wear, in Sum- 
mer, deep sun-bonnets made of pasteboard 
and covered with a coloured barege and 
furnished with a veil of the same colour in 
front. It was a most uncomfortable garb but 
all other girls were dressed the same. A 
freckle was considered a positive disgrace. 
One day my Mother found three tiny ones on 
my face. She had a fit of violent weeping. 

One of our visitors in Washington was my 
Cousin, John Kinzie, of Fort Dearborn or 
Chicago — after whom "Kinzie" Street in that 
city is named. He came to W^ashington with 
a certain delegation of Indians who desired to 
see the "Great Father" for redress of their 
wrongs. Cheating the poor Indian was a 
common thing. But John Kinzie was an hon- 
est man and known as the Red Man's Friend. 
As a young man he had spent much time 
visiting and hunting with the Pottawattamie 
Indians — having a liking for their wild life 
and finding he made friends by it. I remem- 
ber well how he entertained us children with 



60 Eunice Tripler 

an Indian dance which was meant to depict 
the treatment an Indian gives to his ene- 
mies — noiselessly stealing round in a circle — 
lifting his feet till his heels actually touched 
his thighs — peering cautiously about on every 
side for his foe — at last spying his enemy, 
leaping upon him and bearing him to the 
ground. Later, in our home in Detroit, he 
and Uncle Forsythe used to talk together in 
the Indian tongue, having much in sympathy 
from their common Indian experiences. 

With a little circle of my Washington 
mates I had instruction in sewing. Our 
teacher once told us that we should always 
take three more stitches after the needleful of 
thread had become so short as to make it 
necessary to re-thread the needle at each 
stitch. All this for economy's sake but I 
doubt if it were really expected we would 
carry out the direction. 

When the Railway was completed from 
Washington to Baltimore, my Father took me 
for the day to the latter city. It was thought to 
be a marvel of achievement that this journey 
could be made in two hours. We returned in 
the evening with a fine shawl which we pur- 
chased in Baltimore as a present for my 
Mother. 

While Andrew Jackson was making new 
deposits of the public funds, my Father ac- 



Washington in Early Days 61 

cepted the office of messenger and carried the 
sura of $60,000 to Little Rock, Arkansas. It 
was difficult to find trusty men for the service 
because of the great peril incurred, but my 
Father took the duty for the sake of the ad- 
ditional pay. I remember my Father bring- 
ing the big bundle home, taking it up stairs 
and spreading out the packages of bills on the 
bed where my Mother proceeded at once to 
take the necessary measurements and quilt 
the money into a wide belt he wore. When 
she had finished her task she had a fit of 
hysterics. My Father was appointed to this 
extraordinary service perhaps for his known 
soldierly character — and, it may perhaps have 
been felt, that his lameness would have a 
tendency to disarm suspicion. My Father 
used to say that he had often been in posts 
of danger but never, as he felt, in greater 
peril than on this journey. Arkansas and the 
whole South West region at this time were 
infested with ruffians willing to murder any 
man for five dollars. 

Fanny Bell, daughter of Senator John Bell 
of Tennessee, candidate for the Presidency 
in 1860, passed the Christmas Holidays, one 
year, at our house. She was attending a 
boarding-school in Washington at the time. 
She sent me a gold ring shortly afterward — 
the first ring I ever possessed. 



62 Eunice Tripler 



i-ft 15 «•? ■ 



My Brother "Bob/' when a small boy, was 
one day trundling a little wheelbarrow along 
Pennsylvania Avenue. His head was down 
and he was running at top speed when he ran 
his barrow right between the legs of President 
Jackson himself. It was a funny sight, so 
b3'^standers said, to see the President gather 
himself together and slowly lift one long leg 
over the boy's head. 

I felt I knew every brick-bat in Washing- 
ton and loved it, and, when we left, it was 
with tears and groans on my part. 



Ill 

DETROIT IN EARLY DAYS 

On account of insufficient income, my 
Father resigned from the Army in 1836 to 
accept the position of Register of the Land 
Office in Detroit. This post he secured by 
commission from Pres. Andrew Jackson 
through the influence of Gen. Cass. The pay 
of Register had been very considerable in the 
preceding years, but, in the business depres- 
sion of 1837 the income was greatly reduced. 
By a Government treaty with the Indians 
$10,000 had come to Uncle Forsythe and 
$3,000 to each of his two sisters, they all be- 
ing adopted members of this particular tribe. 
It was my Mother's share which paid the ex- 
penses of the move from Washington to De- 
troit. The Government paid this money for 
land taken from the Indians but the treaties 
which brought so much credit to Gen. Cass 
as Secretary of State were effected by the 
personal agency of Uncle Forsythe. He was 
what would be called a very "masterful" man 
— large in stature, muscular and possessed es- 
pecially of the war-like qualities Indians ad- 
mire. When he stalked around among them 

63 



64) Eunice Tripler 

they trembled. He had the virtues of the 
savage and the civilized man strangely mixed. 
He never forgave an enemy nor forgot a 
friend. His nature was undisciplined. He 
was quick to anger but he had the true Indian 
eloquence — using very short sentences but 
those of telling force. In his later life it was 
his recreation and refreshment to go among 
the Indian tribes and stay with them for days 
or weeks at a time. It was a common saying 
it was not wrong to cheat an Indian, on ac- 
count of the many crimes his race had com- 
mitted against the Whites. It was custom- 
ary for every business transaction, of any 
size, with an Indian to be sealed with a big 
drink of whiskey. His only test of the 
whiskey was its power to make him drunk. A 
drunken Indian is a fiend. No one can ever 
measure the awful wrongs done the Indians 
in the advance of our civilization. I am 
thankful I can say all my relatives, the Kin- 
zies and the Forsythes, were absolutely up- 
right in their dealings with the race. My 
Uncle Forsythe knew not the emotion of 
fear. He would stand before an Indian Chief 
who had his tomahawk in hand, give him a 
shove with his shoulder, looking the Chief 
straight in the eye the while. He would point 
to the ground. Down would go the toma- 
hawk. My Uncle always carried his point 





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■ 






^^^^^^l 




Hm ^ 


^M 




^^ 


HH 










^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B- ' ^. - 





Detroit in Early Days 65 

with an Indian — for there is nothing an In- 
dian so admires as personal courage — noth- 
ing by which he is so moved as its display. I 
remember Uncle Forsythe's bringing on to 
Washington eight or ten Indian chiefs to con- 
sult about a certain proposed treaty for In- 
dian land and I saw these men on our parlour 
floor before the hearth in their paint and 
feathers and strong with the odour of Kin- 
nikinic. Oh^ the smell of a dirty Indian! 
When the Indians had gone from our house 
my Mother would call a servant and have all 
the windows and doors thrown open. When 
our writers descant on the dignity of the noble 
red man I have noticed they always omit the 
smell. In Detroit when we first moved there 
in 1836, the sidewalks in front of the retail 
stores were often crowded with squaws hav- 
ing papooses strapped on their backs. 

When a boy of thirteen or fourteen years, 
at Detroit, Uncle Forsythe had lived much 
with the Pottawattamie Indians. He would 
stay for months at a time with one of their 
chiefs, and, in such circumstances, in those 
days, an adoption into the tribe was custom- 
ary. This was effected in his case and in that 
of his Sisters. The latter were sent to Mrs. 
Kinzie's at Fort Dearborn now Chicago. Af- 
terward they were at a boarding school in De- 
troit. During the war of 1812 Uncle Forsythe 



66 Eunice Tripler 

was employed as messenger between the Amer- 
ican generals. He was recommended for his 
courage and his trustworthiness. Bridlepaths 
were the only open lines of communication 
and "Bob Forsythe" rode his pony on this 
duty, exchanging for a fresh mount at cer- 
tain points. Gen. Cass took great fancy to 
him after Hull's surrender, and, in the active 
work necessary to the treaty. Uncle was sim- 
ply indispensable. He could, of course, speak 
the Indian language — could reason with the 
Indians — and could act as interpreter for 
Gen. Cass. He was utterly fearless and had 
unbounded influence over the Indians. For 
these reasons he and his Sisters were granted 
these suras by the Government. My Aunt 
Kercheval got money several times in this 
way. 

My Mother told me that some Indian tribes 
visited on their women, found guilty of un- 
faithfulness, the punishment of slitting or of 
cutting off the nose. I remember to have 
seen several Indian women so disfigured 
but did not, at the time, know for what 
cause. 

"Black Partridge," the Indian Chief, lived 
near Fort Dearborn or Chicago. He was a 
devoted personal friend of Maria Abbot, the 
half sister of John Kinzie. It was through 
Black Partridge they received warning, on 



Detroit in Early Days 67 

one occasion^ in time to save themselves from 
an Indian uprising. 

When we made our journey to the West 
we were three days on the Hudson River 
from New York to Albany. From Albany 
we went by canal to Oswego where we took 
boat through the lakes. On our arrival in 
Detroit we spent six weeks at my Aunt 
Kercheval's. While there I met the English 
novelist Marryat. He came to Uncle's, as I 
now remember, with certain Detroit friends, 
to ask some favour of Uncle concerning a 
trip of his party on the lakes. He and Un- 
cle sat and talked on the piazza. He im- 
pressed me as a very coarse man. We were 
a party of five girls — my three Kercheval 
cousins, my Sister Ellen and myself. He 
called us "young colts" and I quite resented 
the way in which he spoke of "that span over 
there." In the front hall of Uncle Kerche- 
val's I can see now, on a small table, the 
lemons and sugar and whiskey, and even the 
cracked ice, all ready for the punch at a 
moment's notice. In our own home I used to 
insist on making the punch myself for I had 
a recipe by which it was very delicious and 
yet truly temperate. One could not become 
intoxicated on it. I said "I simply will not 
have these young officers drinking to excess in 
our house." Good punch is like most of the 



68 Eunice Tripler 

good things of life : everything depends on the 
right proportion. 

When we came to Detroit to live I felt 
soon reconciled to the change and thoroughly 
at home for it was quickly borne in on me 
that both my Father's family and my 
Mother's family had been largely instru- 
mental in settling and developing the region. 

Our first Detroit home was at the south- 
east corner of Congress and Shelby Streets. 
Detroit, at this time, had perhaps 8,000 popu- 
lation, though some say 5,000 and some only 
3,000. Mr. Bela Hubbard, in his "Memo- 
rials of a Half Century" says Detroit in 1835 
had less than 5,000 inhabitants. Jefferson 
Avenue was the principal street for retail 
shops. Woodward Avenue had the large 
churches, St. Paul's, the Presbyterian and the 
Methodist all being between Congress and 
Larned Streets. Bishop McCoskry and we 
came to Detroit in the same week in August, 
1836. He became rector of St. Paul's. 
There was a swamp where the Grand Circus 
Park now is and the State Capitol (afterward 
burned) stood where later the High School 
was erected. On the Campus Martins the 
Michigan Central Railway soon after had 
it's station and sheds for cattle and freight. 
There were signs of a subterranean stream 
running from the Campus Martins to the 



Detroit in Early Days 69 

river diagonally across the block as now laid 
out through Wayne and Cass Streets. This 
stream was called "The Savoyard." We 
found much social life in Detroit. I knew 
every body. Balls were rare but small 
dances, tea-drinkings, rides and picnics were 
many. The "Brady Guard" always gave one 
ball each year. This organization afterward 
became the "Grayson Guard" and is now 
"The Detroit Light Guard." There were no 
yachts on the river and few small boats for 
pleasure. Every one had a cart for summer 
and a cutter for winter. Uncle Forsythe had 
a very fine sleigh. I was in demand for many 
tableaux. Uncle's house was where now is 
'^4th Street. The distance from town was so 

"^at that while I lived with Uncle I would 
spend a week at a time frequently at the 
Sibley's and the Clitz's for the sake of the 
town life. There was no Fort Wayne as 
yet — but some artillery officers were stationed 
in the city. 

For a time I attended the school which 
stood where now is the City Hall. The prin- 
cipal was a Mr. Wilson who was the author 
of some books on mathematics. Some of the 
boys from Mr. Fitch's school opposite on 
Griswold Street (where as a young man 
Bishop Bissell had taught) attended one of 
our examinations — and, in return, a number 



70 Eunice Trix ^er 

of us girls went to the exercises which closed 
their term. I remember vividly the incisive 
clean-cut enunciation of Anson Burlingame in 
delivering a Latin oration. 

Much attention was paid to reading, writ- 
ing and spelling. To mis-spell a word in writ- 
ing a letter or note was considered a disgrace. 
It was a great delight to me to take up the 
study of Geometry in my Detroit school but I 
remember it was an open question with some 
of our friends whether the studies of a school- 
girl should include Geometry and Chemistry 
which I had also begun. I studied the 
first four books of Euclid, covering plane 
Geometry. 

My Father died 17th February, 1838. He 
had then been one and a half years out of 
active army life but his death was the direct 
result of his exposure and ill-treatment as a 
prisoner and of his resulting illness in Boston. 
His knee was bent and stiff. He tripped 
at the head of a flight of icy stairs leading 
down from Judge Hand's office on Jefferson 
Avenue. He was carrying at the time a large 
registry book for some verification and, be- 
ing unable to recover himself, from his lame- 
ness, he was thrown to the foot. The brass- 
bound book was spattered with his blood. He 
lived nearly two weeks but most of the time 
unconscious. The horror of those days over- 



Detroit in Early Days 71 

comes me now. After my Father's death my 
Mother made our home with Uncle Forsythe. 

I remember well my Father's reading every 
Sunday afternoon out of a big commentary 
which he held on his knees. It has always 
seemed to me as though he were searching 
after the truth but with no one to guide 
him. 

It was a characteristic of my Father when- 
ever he said anything quizzical or amusing 
to look down demurely, pursing his lips and 
stroking his chin softly. After his death I 
m.ost often recalled him in this attitude. I 
have no recollection of ever receiving from 
my Father one harsh answer or one rough 
word. 

One evening about three years after my 
Father's death I was seated at the piano, play- 
ing "Within a Mile of Edinboro' Town," a 
favorite tune of his. There was a doorway at 
right and left of the piano, at each side, as I 
sat facing it. I was suddenly conscious of 
my Father's presence. I turned to the right 
and over my shoulder saw his figure with per- 
fect clearness. He walked forward with his 
accustomed limp, passed by the piano at its 
side and through the doorway. In a moment 
I collected myself, stepped to the doorway 
and looked out. Nothing was to be seen. 
This is the only apparition I ever saw. It 



i 



72 Eunice Tripler 

was, of course, the result of my own sub- 
jective state. 

In the Autumn of 1838 I went to school at 
Utica, N. Y., where I remained a year. The 
principal of this Utica school was a Miss Shel- 
don, a wise and judicious woman with a re- 
markable power to enforce discipline. I 
greatly admired her and worked hard to win 
her approbation. In this I think I succeeded, 
for on my return home I received an invita- 
tion to come back to the school as teacher. 
This I would have done had it not been for 
the coming into my life of Dr. Tripler. 
Among other studies at Utica I was taught 
drawing and painting in oils by a Miss Bar- 
ber, but the paintings I undertook were quite 
beyond my ability to execute well. My 
Father's death opened my spiritual eyes and 
softened my heart. My teacher in Utica was 
a Presbyterian and very anxious that I should 
be "converted." But I went with a little 
band of girls who had been confirmed to Grace 
Church. Dr. Rudd, the Rector, had lost his 
palate and could hardly be understood. The 
drawing teacher, who was an infidel, used to 
take us in charge. I read at this time "Pay- 
son's Thoughts" and "Pilgrim's Progress." 
I was baptised in old St. Paul's, Detroit 
(Woodward Avenue), by Bishop McCoskry 
and confirmed by him shortly after my mar- 



Detroit in Early Days 73 

riage and just before my first child's birth. 
I thought with horror of giving birth to a 
child as an unbaptised woman. I said to the 
Bishop, "I don't know that I am prepared." 
"Oh, ask your husband. He is a good man." 
This was my preparation. My Sister Ellen 
was baptised many years afterward and my 
Brother "Bob" on his death-bed in California. 

On her return to this country from St. 
Petersburg Mrs. G. V. N. Lothrop once said 
to me, "Why, the Russians look upon us as 
heathens because we are not baptised." I 
said to her, "And j'^ou are just that." 

Gen. Scott, then commanding our Army, 
was accustomed each year to go over his old 
battle-fields and used to invite people right 
and left to accompany him. In the Summer 
of 1840, at Buffalo, he picked up an Adjutant 
and a regimental band of fifteen pieces and 
with these and his own suite came to Detroit. 
He called on Mrs. Clitz, whose husband, Capt. 
Clitz, had been his personal friend. At the 
time I happened to be visiting Miss Clitz 
(afterward Mrs. Pratt) for a week. Of course 
Gen. Scott came in with great bluster. "Oh, 
this is one of my girls. Oh, both these are 
my girls. You must both join our party up 
the lakes." At the time I had a sty on my 
eye and would have preferred to remain at 
home. But Miss Clitz added her entreaties: 



74 Eunice Tripler 

"Oh, yes, we must go. It won't cost us any- 
thing." And we went — by the large steamer 
"Illinois" — to Mackinac and then to the 
Sault. Gen. Scott drank champagne and at 
every meal informed us it was "the only wine 
my doctor allows me." My Uncle Kercheval 
was a passenger on the steamer from Mac- 
kinac to the Sault. He came to me and said, 
"Do you know your fare has not been paid? 
This I learned from the clerk." My Uncle, 
accordingly, paid my fare and certain officers 
clubbed together and paid Miss Clitz' fare. 
At Mackinac, the Commandant, Dr. Harvey 
Brown, had a pretty daughter and Gen. Scott 
insisted that she, too, should be taken in the 
party to the Sault. But no arrangement was 
made for the paying of her fare until, again, 
a circle of officers provided for it. Naturally, 
all who knew these facts were indignant at 
Gen. Scott for his meanness. As for myself, 
1 cut quite loose from him when I understood 
I was not his guest. At each meal he would 
say, "Miss Hunt, everyone is bound to eat 
fish when fish like these are to be had." 
"Thank you," I would reply, "I prefer 
whortle-berries." And I did. I was very mad. 
We young people did have a merry time, how- 
ever. Our steamer could, of course, go no 
farther North than the Sault — but we all went 
fifteen miles by schooner out into Lake Su- 



Detroit in Early Days 75 

perior. We had a dance on the shore and got 
ravenously hungry. Joe Johnston, a lieuten- 
ant, had joined us at the Sault. He said, 
**Why here's wood. Let's toast some bacon." 
And this we did, eating it with soda crackers. 
Lieut. Johnston toasted mine, kneeling on the 
sand. His manners were delightful. He was 
constantly thoughtful of others. On my re- 
turn I wrote some doggerel about the trip 
which greatly amused my Cousin, Henry I. 
Hunt. One stanza recounted many of our 
sights on land and water and ended: 

** I have looked on a scene still greater, I wot. 
For I've met that old humbug, Gen. Scott.*' 



IV 

EARLY MARRIED LIFE 

Dr. Tripler was ordered to Detroit from 
Buffalo in January, 1840, and drove over — a 
week or more en route — with a servant. He 
had a beautifully varnished black sleigh with 
red cushions and a fine team, — all greatly 
admired by the people of Detroit. He brought 
a small trunk, a gun case and a flute — but not 
many books as I remember. A piano came 
by boat in the Spring. After our first intro- 
duction I saw him every day in spite of his 
duties all over the city in attending officers. 
Uncle Forsythe had known him in Florida 
and wanted the match. Dr. Tripler would 
manifest the greatest interest in Uncle's 
horses or poultry and then would come into 
the house for a toddy or to ask after the 
ladies. Sometimes in the spirit of mischief 
I would not go to receive him, but get my 
Mother to appear in my place. This would 
bring a note from him on return to the city, 
so that he either saw me or had word directly 
from me each day. On the announcement of 
our engagement, the commanding oflScer in 
Detroit, Major Morris, gave us a dinner. 

77 



78 Eunice Tripler 

Senator Norvell proposed my health, which 
was drunk by all present. As I touched my 
lips to the glass I choked violently. My con- 
fusion was from my constant fear of appear- 
ing too young for Dr. Tripler. Mrs. Morris 
oversaw the preparation of Dr. Tripler's 
trousseau — for gentlemen's furnishings were 
not readily obtainable and had to be made in 
each case specially. Dr. Tripler had treated 
and cured a child of Major and Mrs. Morris 
and their gratitude was very keen. 

I was married in old St. Paul's Church on 
Woodward Avenue by Bishop McCoskry, 
2 March, ISl-l — two days before the inaugu- 
ration of Harrison and Tyler. Dr. Farns- 
worth was married just before us. It was an 
evening wedding, followed by a reception 
and supper at Uncle Forsythe's. We had 
four bridesmaids and four groomsmen, all of- 
ficers of the army. These were: Lieut. 
Clarke, Dr. Southgate, Lieut. Solle, Lieut. 
Tom Williams, the father of Bishop G. Mott 
Williams, and my Sister Ellen, Miss Eliza 
Woodbridge, Miss Martha Jones and Miss 
Belle Norvell, daughter of Senator Norvell. 
Dr. Southgate and Miss Woodbridge meeting 
first at our wedding, were afterward married. 

For a few months after our marriage we 
boarded on Fort St. and then kept house in 
what all Detroiters called "The Parsonage" 



Early Married Life 79 

on Woodbridge St. back of Christ Church. 
When we began housekeeping I asked Uncle 
Forsythe about the amounts of supplies neces- 
sary to be stored for winter use — for vege- 
tables in those days could not be bought in 
conveniently small quantities. Our family 
consisted of Dr. Tripler and myself and our 
three negro servants. Uncle Forsythe ad- 
vised 30 bushels of potatoes, and most of 
these were thrown out of the cellar in May. 
Table butter was brought to me each week 
fresh, but Uncle thought we should lay in 
two 40-lb. firkins and one 10-lb. firkin for 
a reserve stock. This I sold the next spring 
for soap grease. I also bought one barrel of 
cranberries and at the end of winter it hardly 
seemed as though we had made the slightest 
impression on it. I was inexpressibly re- 
lieved to see that barrel carted off. There 
was no way, as I well remember, to buy 
cream in the city — though milk, of course, 
could be had. Flowers were nowhere for 
sale and the supply of berries in their season 
was very irregular. Strawberries were not 
cultivated for the market. 

I decided to keep a household expense- 
book and my husband rolled in a fit of uncon- 
trollable laughter when he saw I had entered 
on one line, "Loaned to myself" and "Paid 
to myself." 



80 Eunice Tripler 

Gen. Scott came to see us after our first 
child was born. I must admit I was quite 
awed by his rank. He said to me concerning 
the baby, "And has your husband a theory? 
Because if he has, this child is ruined." Gen. 
Scott and Dr. Tripler used to play chess. If 
the General saw the game going against him- 
self he would joggle the table and upset the 
board. 

In offering his arm to a lady. Gen. Scott 
would always say, "Excuse this one, but my 
wound at Lundy's Lane compels me." It 
disgusted all who knew that the real hero of 
Lundy's Lane was Gen. Brady, who never 
referred to the battle — nor had he need to. 
Old Gen. Brady was one of our intimate 
friends. One day he paid me a "compli- 
ment," as he called it: "Yes, you are a smart 
woman: you can do three things at once; you 
can knit and scold and rock the cradle." We 
lived in our first house a year and then went 
to Congress St., two doors west of Shelby. 
There my eldest child died and there Allie was 
born. These two were but nineteen months 
apart. We moved next to Jefferson Avenue, 
opposite the Biddle House. We were there 
but two months when Dr. Tripler left for the 
Mexican War. I stayed the year out and then 
lived with my Sister, now Mrs. Bissell, on the 
River Road at about 13th St. Mr. Bissell's 



Early Married Life 81 

man used to take my little Stuart and the Bis- 
sell baby into the stable and the tots learned 
there actually to swear. Thence we went to 
the house we first occupied after our marriage 
at the corner of Cass and Fort, now kept by a 
Mrs. Moore, and boarded there till Dr. Trip- 
ler returned from Mexico. 

The winter of 1838 to '39 was uncommonly 
severe in Michigan. The cold was intense 
and long-continued and the snow lay deep on 
the ground. Wild birds were forced to find 
their food in barn-yards and in door-yards. 
Quail, in particular, were so compelled to 
frequent the neighbourhood of the farm- 
houses, and the farmers, seeing their oppor- 
tunity, set many traps which they baited with 
corn and other grain and caught vast numbers 
of these birds. The stock of quail brought 
into Detroit that winter was enormous. The 
ruling price was 25 cents per dozen. At the 
Winter's close it seemed to me I never wanted 
to see another quail. The next year these 
birds were very scarce in the neighbourhood 
of Detroit — and a year or two later quail be- 
gan to be shipped from Detroit to New York, 
and they never since have been plentiful in 
Detroit. 

In my childhood in Detroit, I remember 
well that on Election Day, each year, women 
and children had to keep closely within doors. 



82 Eunice Tripler 

This was from the general drunkenness that 
prevailed and the brawls and street fights 
that always marked the day. In the old army, 
after the business of each day, many of the 
older officers were accustomed to give them- 
selves to drink — and it was a dreadful ex- 
ample to those younger, who didn't like to be 
called "milk-sops." It would be said of a 
man, "He is not a drinking man. He is never 
drunk before dinner." It seemed that all that 
could be expected of a man was that he should 
keep sober In the morning. Common de- 
scriptive terms were "a one-bottle man," "a 
two-bottle man." 



DR. CHARLES STUART TRIPLER 

Dr Tripler was born in New York City^ 
19 January, 1806. The home of his parents 
was on the "Bowerie." Orchard St. marks^ 
the place of his father's apple orchard. The 
half-brothers of Dr. Tripler built "Tripler 
Hall," which was opened by Jennie Lind. 
Dr. Tripler's father was a very stern man. 
He died a year after our marriage, and I 
never saw him. Madame Tripler lived with, 
us at Fort Gratiot two years just before Dr. 
I'ripler went to California. She died at the 
home of relatives in Toronto. A brother of 
Dr. Tripler was Grandfather of the inventor 
of liquid air. 

Dr. Tripler's father had been a successful 
merchant in New York. As he prospered, he 
invested in land, then comparatively cheap. 
He sold his estate on Orchard St. and went 
farther North. At last Dr. Tripler's two half- 
brothers became involved in business en- 
tanglements and got their Father to become 
their security. They failed and he lost his 

83 



84 Eunice Tripler 

whole fortune, the creditors taking even the 
family silver with the crest. This I learned 
from Madame Tripler, for Dr. Tripler never 
referred to the matter from mortification at 
his Father's and Brothers' conduct. These 
Brothers went to South America. The re- 
verse in family affairs was so sudden and com- 
plete it caused a revulsion in all plans, and 
my husband, then only a little boy, but in 
active preparation for college, was appren- 
ticed to an apothecary, a Mr. Stephen Brown. 
This man was a true friend and took a lively 
interest in his little clerk and oversaw his 
evening studies in his room, for he did study 
after working hours. He was a good Latin 
scholar and used to boast he never learned the 
meaning of one Latin word after he was 
twelve. It had all been flogged into him be- 
fore, he said, by his teacher, a man named 
Barry. Mr. Stephen Brown had the degree 
of M.D. and, on my husband's graduation, he 
proposed they should form a partnership. I 
do not know just the terms he proposed, but 
my husband had other ambitions and declined 
the offer. 

Dr. Tripler, when a little boy in New York, 
heard songs in the street calling on the citi- 
zens to defend themselves against the British, 
This was during the War of 1812. One song 
had these words; * 



Dr. Charles Stuart Tripler 85 

•* Pickaxe, shovel, spade, crowbar, hoe, and barrow, 
Better not invade, Yankees have the marrow." 

and a darky song of the time ran; 

** On Lake Champlain Uncle Sam set a' boats 
And then Massa Donough he sail 'em. 
Gen. McComb make a Platta-burg a home 
Wid de Army whose courage never fail 'em.'* 

The father of Mrs. Tripler was Hugh Stu- 
art, formerly Governor of Bermuda. This 
was the royal line of Stuarts. This Governor 
Stuart was visiting in New York at the out- 
break of the War of 1812 and was not suf- 
fered to leave. Indeed, he made his home 
now with his daughter till his death. The 
Uncle of Mrs. Tripler was Sir Archibald 
Campbell, President of the East India Com- 
pany. When he learned that his great- 
nephew was an M.D. he wrote his Mother 
offering him a position as surgeon in the Com- 
pany. This my husband was too patriotic 
to accept. He would not expatriate himself. 
But his Cousin, Dr. George Rankin, a Can- 
adian, to whom the place was next offered, 
accepted it, and, after twenty years* service, 
came to this country, now on the retired list 
with good pay, and made us a visit in Detroit 
only a few years after our marriage. 

Dr. Tripler's father in New York was once 
made to sleep with a small-pox patient — in 
the hope and expectation he would have the 



86 Eunice Tripler 

disease in a mild form, but he did not have 
it at all. While a resident physician at 
Bellevue Hospital Dr. Tripler took the 
varioloid and, through life, his face showed 
the marks. He was very ill. His mother, 
going out to see him at the hospital, overheard 
a passenger in the stage say, "Well, young 
Tripler died last night." This, however, 
proved hardly to be the case. 

As a medical student in New York my hus- 
band used to visit the various public institu- 
tions then as now on BlackwelFs Island. At 
the alms-house one day a poor old Irish woman 
bent and crippled with rheumatism hobbled 
up to him and whined out an appeal for help. 
**I want to be cured." "Well, the next time I 
am here I will bring some medicine to cure 
Tou." A few days later he was again on the 
Island and, in due time, the old hag worked 
her way up to him. Until she appeared my 
husband had quite forgotten his promise. He 
said to her "Wait on this spot till I return 
with the medicine" and he hastened to the dis- 
pensary, caught up a phial, filled it with 
"water and a little coloring matter (like 
cochineal), and added a few drops of mint 
to give it a taste. He went back to his pa- 
tient and put the little bottle into her hand 
saying impressively, "Now this will cure your 
xheumatism. You are to take three drops in 



Dr. Charles Stuart Tripler 87 

water three times a day until you are quite 
well. But I have no more of this medicine. 
And you must bring back to me every drop 
in the bottle you have left." She promised. 
Not many days after, looking down from an 
upper window of the institution into the yard 
below, my husband could hardly believe what 
he saw — the old woman stepping easily and 
proudly along the walk and carrying a huge 
basin of food toward one of the wards — 
moving with the lightness and ease of perfect 
health. He rushed down the stairs and con- 
fronted her. Said he "Now, where is my 
medicine you had left?" The woman fell on 
her knees before him. "Oh, Doctor, forgive 
me, forgive me. When I got cured myself, 
Nora Doolev and four other women in her 
ward wanted the same good stuff. I tried to 
keep it for you and I just couldn't. There 
was enough in the bottle to cure all of the 
five entirely. And, sure, I ask your forgive- 
ness, good Doctor." This for the power of 
faith. 

Dr. Tripler's entrance into the Army was 
on this wise. Pie had long had an ambition 
to be an Army surgeon. The year of his 
graduation as M. D. from Columbia College, 
New York, he was written to by a Dr. Wal- 
ter V. Wheaton, an elderly surgeon of the 
Army then stationed at West Point and urged 



88 Eunice Tripler 

to come up to the Point to assist him some- 
what in his duties and also to attend to what 
private practice there might be for him. Up 
to this time medical appointments in the 
Army had been entirely by political favour 
and without examination. Dr. Tripler was 
the first candidate ever examined for the 
medical service. The Secretary of War, 
Eaton, came this year to West Point with 
his wife. At a certain assembly this Dr. 
Wheaton introduced young Dr. Tripler to 
Airs. Eaton and he danced with her. In 
some wav she learned his ambition to enter the 
Army and his great desire for an appoint- 
ment to be examined. On her return to Wash- 
ington this appointment was immediately sent 
to Dr. Tripler — and by her influence as was 
well known. Mrs. Eaton had a very humble 
origin. She had been a Miss Timberlake of 
Tennessee. 

While Dr. Tripler was at West Point he 
took the full mathematical course of the 
cadets. He, also, in these years, perfected 
himself in French. This West Point dis- 
cipline had doubtless a lasting influence on 
Dr. Tripler as an officer. While at West 
Point, some of the companions of Dr. Tripler 
entered on an almost riotous bout. They took 
a cadet who had become entirely intoxicated, 
dead drunk in fact, and put him in a coffin, 



Dr. Charles S. Tripler 

From miniature paintinj^: on ivory, made 
at West Point just after he was commissioned 
Assistant Surgeon, 1830. 



Dr. Charles Stuart Tripler 89 

and, preceded by fife and drum, marched 
round the parade-ground. A Col. Vose was 
Commandant at the time and he inflicted for 
this proceeding no discipline at all — from his 
favouritism, as was said, for Dr. Tripler who 
was known to be in the company. 

There was at the Academy an instructor in 
French who was of very eccentric character. 
His domestic relationships, in particular, 
were notorious. At last, reports of his mal- 
treatment of his wife were carried to Col. 
Fair, the Commandant. He summoned the 
man before him and gave him a reprimand. 
The Frenchman replied, "What! I will not 
be permitted to beat my own wife.'* You tell 
me this .'' Then I will go hang myself." 

Dr. Tripler entered the Army at twenty- 
three, and, following West Point was sta- 
tioned at Houlton and East-port, Maine. Then 
the Red River country and Baton Rouge. Then 
Florida for the three Seminole campaigns. 
There was much profane swearing in the 
Army and Gen. Harney, in particular, seemed 
to spend his time in making new and strange 
oaths. But in the Florida campaign. Dr. 
Tripler once riding alone in the deep forest 
was so struck with awe that he vowed never 
again to utter an oath. This vow he faith- 
fully kept. There were three campaigns in 
the Florida war, so called. But there was no 



90 Eunice Tripler 

glory in Indian warfare — with the readiness 
of the Indian to shoot you behind your back. 
From Florida Dr. Tripler was ordered to 
Buffalo, and thence to Detroit. When my 
first child (a son) was born. Col. Childs who 
had served with Dr. Tripler at Tallahassee 
was God-Father and came on from New York 
to Detroit for the Baptism. This son was 
Charles Stuart. He died at sixteen months. 

In the Army Medical Museum in Wash- 
ington there is mounted in one of the cases 
a child's hand prepared, as the attached label 
shows, "By Surgeon Charles S. Tripler 
U. S. A/' It is a specimen intended to show 
the exact distribution of the arteries — these 
vessels being exquisitely dissected out — and 
coloured scarlet. It must have been made at 
a very early day in the history of the great 
collection, being numbered 25 in its class 
which now embraces thousands of prepara- 
tions. 

The difficulties and inconveniences of travel 
through Michigan by any sort of vehicle were 
by no means made light of by Bishop Mc- 
Coskry. Hearing from him of what he had 
had to endure on one of his missionary trips. 
Dr. Tripler offered the next time the Bishop 
had occasion to go through that region to 
take him in his own conveyance. This he 
did and the result was that Dr. Tripler was 



Dr. Charles Stuart Tripler 91 

confirmed in one of the classes presented at 
some small country Church on that trip. 
This was in the year preceding our marriage. 
After his confirmation Dr. Tripler grew fast 
in Churchmanship. The "Oxford Movement'* 
was rife in our early years of marriage. 
When our first child was born Dr. Tripler 
wanted the Baptism at once. "You can't be- 
gin too soon/' he said, "just read what the 
Prayer Book says of the importance of 
Baptism." During the progress of the Trac- 
tarian movement in England Dr. Tripler read 
the famous tracts as they appeared and often 
argued them out with Bishop McCoskry. He 
stiffened up the Bishop I feel sure. It was 
much later thai; this before I even bowed in 
the Creed. 



VI 
DURING THE MEXICAN WAR 

In 1846 Allie was two years old. She had 
had Cholera Infantum and Dr. Tripler said 
she must go to Mackinac. It was the month 
of June. When the news of the annexing 
of Texas was received^ Dr. Tripler at once 
said "This means war with Mexico and a 
long separation for you and me." People 
who stay at home and make laws for other 
people to go out and fight, know nothing of 
the stern realities of the case. 

Orders were received for the troops in De- 
troit to proceed to Mexico. Col. Reilley, in 
command, said, "We shall leave day after 
tomorrow." And they did — but very fool- 
ishly, for at Newport Barracks, Ken., they 
had to await for two weeks the troops coming 
from Eagle Harbour and Copper Harbour, 
Michigan. This Col. Reilley said, with what 
I thought was foolish bombast, "I'll earn a 
yellow sash or" (in form quoting Stark at 
Bennington) "Arabella Reilley is a widow." 
Before starting. Dr. Tripler took my Mother 
and Allie to the Mackinac boat. To part 
from the child was like drawing his heart's 

93 



94 Eunice Tripler 

blood. But it was inevitable. The regiment 
proceeded down the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers and sailed from New Orleans. They 
had great discomfort and great danger as 
well, from unseaworthy transports. The land- 
ing was at Vera Cruz. An officer rushed to 
Gen. Scott: "General, they are firing on us.'* 
"Well, Sir, did I stipulate there should be 
no firing, Sir.^" 

A Capt. Albertis was killed there by a 
chance shell from the "Castle." Mrs. Al- 
bertis was at Copper Harbour, Michigan, and 
did not learn of her husband's death for six 
months. Then she said "Well, half mourning 
will do for me. I didn't know my husband 
was dead for a whole half year." 

The Army fought its way to the City of 
Mexico via Cerro Gordo, Molino del Rey, 
Chapultepec. Gen. Taylor was advancing 
from the North to join forces. While on the 
way to Mexico City the Army was quartered 
in a certain town where Dr. Tripler made a 
very pleasant friendship with a physician of 
the place — and also with an aged Roman 
Priest. The latter he treated professionally. 
The old man, at their parting, wanted to pay 
Dr. Tripler for his services — but my husband 
said to him, "No. In my country the Clergy 
are treated free." The Priest replied "It 
is different here. In Mexico we pay double.'* 



During the Mexican War 95 

At last Gen. Scott entered Mexico City. 
Then I did not hear from my husband for 
six months for the Mexicans were in the rear 
of the American Army and all communica- 
tion was cut. I got a scrawl from Cerro 
Gordo. Later a number of officers, includ- 
ing Dr. Tripler, hired a Mexican, at a great 
price, to carry a little packet of papers, in 
his boot-heel, to the coast. Each officer could 
send but a few lines. But none of these let- 
ters came through. The Army remained in 
the City of Mexico eight months. Dr. Trip- 
ler studied Spanish and learned it so that he 
enjoyed "Don Quixote" in the original. 
There was a Doctor Martinez whose ac- 
quaintance he valued and a little coterie of 
German merchants. With them Dr. Tripler 
saw his first Christmas Tree. When he came 
home he wanted me to have one. I said "No. 
Give me some woolen stockings and I will 
stuff them." I hated novelties. 

One day while Dr. Tripler was pegging 
away at his Spanish Grammar he heard loud 
talking in the yard, and, looking out, saw 
his boy "Jim" from New York engaged in a 
violent quarrel with a Mexican boy — of 
course all in Spanish. While Dr. Tripler had 
been learning the Spanish grammar, Jim had 
been learning the Spanish language. 

Field hospitals in the Mexican War al- 



96 Eunice Tripler 

ways showed the yellow flag — but this was 
made the special mark of the Mexican gun- 
ners. On one occasion, on a battlefield. Dr. 
Tripler was in the act of amputation and 
kneeling on the ground, when his patient, al- 
most in his arms, as it were, was instantly 
killed — struck by a large fragment of rock 
which was hurled from a cliff by the bursting 
of a shell. 

After the capture of Mexico a service of 
Thanksgiving was held. The Rev. Dr. Mc- 
Carthy, a Churchman and Chaplain, cele- 
brated the Holv Communion. A little band of 
officers communicated, at their head Gen. 
Scott. Major Duncan Stewart, a Paymaster, 
once told me Dr. Tripler saved more souls 
than any other man in Mexico — by doing, 
rather than saying, the right thing. "His 
life," he said "was a perpetual sermon." He 
added "Your husband brought me to the 
Church and to the Communion." This Major 
Stewart made his First Communion in New 
York City and, on that occasion, at his earnest 
request. Dr. Tripler knelt on one side of him 
and Gen. Robert Anderson (of Fort Sumter 
fame) on the other. Dr. Tripler dis- 
couraged gambling among the officers and al- 
ways threw his influence on the safe side. 
He did not object to card-playing. 

On the march to Mexico City the sick and 



During the Mexican War 97 

wounded were put by Dr. Tripler's order in 
the Churches which, fortunately, were with- 
out permanent seats and which were the only 
available places of shelter. In this disposi- 
tion Dr. Tripler was as careful and reverent 
as it was possible to be. He always en- 
couraged the Priests to screen the Altars and 
protect their furnishings — but, even so, there 
was much desecration. 

Dr. Tripler was attached as Medical Di- 
rector to the staff of Gen. Twiggs who com- 
manded the Second Brigade of regular 
troops. At Pueblo he made an exhaustive 
report on the cause of the diseases prevailing 
in the Army. On the surrender and occupa- 
tion of Mexico City, the duty of organizing 
and taking charge of the general hospital was 
assigned to Dr. Tripler. The buildings oc- 
cupied for this purpose were the Bishop's 
Palace, the Governor's Palace, the Iturbide 
Palace, the Inquisition, the College of Mines 
and the Convent of Santa Isabella. There 
was great lack of medical officers, most of the 
volunteer surgeons proving inefficient — and 
the distance from the United States prevent- 
ing easy re-supply. It was what Dr. Tripler 
observed in the conduct of this campaign in 
Mexico as to the needs of the Medical Corps 
and the Army generally that induced him to 
prepare the Manuals he afterwards printed. 



.L. 



98 Eunice Tripler 

In the City of Mexico, the conduct of the 
Army of Occupation, for the most part, was 
very irreverent at public service. The Sol- 
diers would stalk into the Church while 
service was in progress with their hats on 
and stalk out in the same way before the 
Blessing. Of course Dr. Tripler was the im- 
personation of reverence and he became, in 
consequence, a rather marked man. One day 
a Priest said to him, "You are a Catholic" — 
"Yes," said Dr. Tripler, "I am, but not a 
Roman Catholic. I am an English Catholic.'* 
Definitions, of course, were in order. The 
Priest was astonished at Dr. Tripler's at- 
titude but they became warm friends and used 
often to discuss books of devotion and mat- 
ters of doctrine. Another Priest whom Dr. 
Tripler attended successfully, and, of course, 
gratuitously, through a severe illness, made 
him a present of a number of handsomely 
bound Spanish books and these Dr. Tripler 
enjoyed studying. His mind was always ac- 
tively engaged on some subject that was 
worthy. 

While the "Army of Occupation" was in 
the City of Mexico religious services were 
regularly held by Father McCarthy, Priest 
of the Church and Chaplain. Among those 
perfectly regular in attendance were Gen. 
Scott, R. E. Lee, F. J. Porter, E. D. Town- 



During the Mexican War 99 

send, Gen. Casey, Col. Gardiner and Dr. 
Tripler. At the monthly Communion Gen. 
Scott, Dr. Tripler and some others always re- 
ceived. My husband used always to uncover 
his head if in the presence of the Host car- 
ried by Roman Catholic Priests through the 
streets. Some of his brother officers used to 
deride him for this, but, of course, he was not 
affected by their attitude. I think it was 
shortly after the occupation of the City of 
Mexico by our Army that General Scott was 
waited upon by a circle of officers who had 
prepared a paper commending his general 
course as Commander and the conduct of the 
campaign — and whose leader proceeded to 
read the paper to Scott. At its close. General 
Scott declared: "Sir, 1 decline to receive this 
paper. The right to approve. Sir, implies the 
right to disapprove which I deny. Sir." In 
this I think Scott was right. 

The "Aztec Club" was organized in Mexico 
City to furnish a place of comfortable re- 
sort for the officers in the evening. Gen. 
Buchanan wanted billiards introduced. This 
was granted. Then he and his friends pro- 
posed gaming and drinking. Gen. Scott sent 
for Dr. Tripler and said "These men will 
get together enough votes to carry their 
schemes against us." Dr. Tripler snapped his 
teeth together and replied "I'll see to that'* 



100 Eunice Tripler 

and he did. For night after night Dr. Trip- 
ler and his friends would attend the Club 
(giving up all other social engagements) and 
by their constant presence they prevented the 
proposed action. All this Major Stewart told 
me in New York City in 1864 one evening 
while calling on us — Dr. Tripler being on 
duty and away from our hotel. 

In Mexico Col. Reilley of our Army (whom 
I well knew in Detroit) held a council of his 
regimental officers. He explained that the 
regiment was to capture a certain post. An 
officer said "But, Colonel, this regiment can 
never take that fortification." "Oh, yes, it 
can. I have the order right here in my 
breast-pocket." 

On one occasion Fitz John Porter (then 
Captain) and Dr. Tripler passed, without 
knowing it, beyond the lines and found them- 
selves within a very short distance of the 
Mexican camp. "And" Dr. Tripler said "We 
made rapid time back. Porter had the longer 
legs but I think I beat him." Dr. Tripler 
realized the Mexican War was a contest in 
which the heart of the American people was 
but little enlisted, chiefly because it was felt 
the war had resulted from the demand of the 
slave-holding South for more territory. How- 
ever, he used to say the time would come 
when the nation would more truly appreciate 



During the Mexican War 101 

the brilliancy of the campaign under Scott, 
a campaign without a defeat and almost, as 
one might say, without a check. I believe the 
time he spoke of is now near. 

After his return from Mexico and his sight 
there of the fearful corruptions of the Church 
of Rome, Dr. Tripler used to say that in this 
country we could know little of the conditions 
prevailing in professedly Roman Catholic 
lands. He said he could not see how two 
Roman Catholic Priests could look one an- 
other in the face without laughing. 

Once at a Court Martial at Jefferson Bar- 
racks, Mo., Dr. Tripler gave testimony as to 
the general good character of a certain sol- 
dier and he closed by saying, characteristic- 
ally, "I think when a man fights as well as 
I've seen this man fight in Mexico, he's got 
a perfect right to get drunk, if he wants to." 

Dr. Tripler read the Medical works of 
Spanish, French and Italian authors. He 
once said it was especially interesting to note 
the scientific progress of the Italians. This 
rather surprised me. 

While my husband was in Mexico I was 
one afternoon shocked by two men climbing 
a high board fence at the side of our house 
(Jefferson Avenue) and peering into the 
room where I was dressing. I instantly drew 
the shade. There was a pistol in the house 



102 Eunice Tripler 

and the next afternoon I laid it in full view 
on a table directly in front of the window. 
After dressing I raised the shade. As I an- 
ticipated, the men at once appeared again on 
the fence. I simply bowed my head and 
pointed dramatically to the pistol. They 
dropped as though shot and it ended the 
annoyance. 

This house had a front porch only three 
or four steps above the Avenue. One eve- 
ning a drunken man came tumbling up upon 
the porch and into the front door which 
closed behind him. Seeing his condition, 
I said "You must get right out of here." 
He hiccoughed "But you see I've come to 
stay." I passed rapidly round him and 
opened the door. Then quickly facing him 
I threw myself against him with all my 
young strength. He fell down those steps 
into the street, seemingly end over end. It is 
surprising to note the result of sudden power 
when applied unexpectedly. 

I remember meeting Zachary Taylor in De- 
troit in the early forties, when he was visit- 
ing his cousin, James Taylor, a Colonel in 
the Armv who lived at the time on Jefferson 
Avenue. This Col. Tavlor had married a 
daughter of Judge McLean of the U. S. Su- 
preme Court. Judge McLean I also met. 
He was a remarkably sober man, seeming to 



During the Mexican War 103 

carry a weighty responsibility into the very 
minutiae of life. You could never joke with 
him. Zachary Taylor himself was very rough 
in his demeanor and not at all like a gentle- 
man in his mode of address. 

The Grants came to Detroit in 1849. Mrs. 
Grant and I exchanged calls. U. S. Grant 
was then a Lieutenant in the Army and his 
pay was about $60 per month. Dr. Tripler 
was at this time a Major. Mrs. Grant al- 
ways had a great lump of a baby in her 
arms. Dr. Tripler pointed out Grant to me 
in the street one day. "That's Grant over 
there. How he does drive that little rat of 
a horse" (a French pony, a pacer — though 
the best he could afford. At this very time, 
as I well remember, Dr. Tripler was driv- 
ing his pair of Vermont Morgan mares). 
Grant used to drive furiously on Jefferson 
Avenue then unpaved and on the River Rouge 
when frozen. And we met the Grants in com- 
pany occasionally. I recall, in particular, a 
large party at Gen. Brady's where they were 
present. Most of the time Lieut. Grant was 
standing rather aloof from the company and 
uncommunicative with his hands behind his 
back, impassive. He always gave me the im- 
pression of a school-boy who had not learned 
his lesson, but he was always very devoted 
and tender to his wife. She, as I think, was 



104 Eunice Tripler 

his salvation. My cousin, Capt. Lewis Hunt, 
a class-mate of Grant at West Point, had 
said to me, "There's more in Grant than you 
think." 

I had no personal acquaintance with S. B. 
Buckner but I know that his was a very lov- 
able character. I knew the daughter of 
Major Kingsbury whom he married and a 
beautiful young woman she was. 

I knew Lieut. J. C. Pemberton as an Ar- 
tillery Officer in Detroit. This was a little 
before the Grants came in 1849. Lieut. Pem- 
berton was of haughty demeanor and by no 
means popular. 

I knew Joe Johnston when he was a Cap- 
tain of the Topographical Engineers. After 
we removed to Detroit he came to Michigan 
also and in company with Capt. Canfield and 
three civilians, went to the Upper Peninsula 
on topographical work. He had a most en- 
gaging manner and charmed everybody. I 
think he was, at this time, in love with Mary 
Canfield and he used to come to our home in 
Detroit in the hope to find her there. 



VII 
THE CALIFORNIA SERVICE 

In 1850 the Army post at Detroit was 
broken up. We went at once to Fort Gratiot 
which was delightful in summer. There were 
but two companies at that post. Communica- 
tion with Detroit was by boat or team. I 
went from Fort Gratiot down to Detroit to 
see the city in its first illumination by gas 
street-lamps. This was thought to be very 
wonderful as an improvement. When we first 
came to Detroit in 1836 there were scarcely 
any street lamps — even of oil — except a few 
just before the principal hotels. 

Once Dr. Tripler drove my Mother in 
winter from Detroit to Fort Gratiot. The 
Commanding Officer at Fort Gratiot was 
Gabriel I. Raines. He was an unpopular 
man and spent most of his time experimenting 
with electricity. Mrs. Raines was a Southern 
woman and was representative of household 
shiftlessness. One evening, I remember, we 
were invited to the Raines house and our en- 
tertainment consisted of egg-nog which was 
served to us from a tin watering-pot. I con- 

105 



106 Eunice Tripler 

eluded that no pitcher being available, appeal 
had been taken to the gardener. 

At the out-break of the Civil War, Raines 
promptly joined the Confederate Army. On 
the evacuation of Richmond in 1865 he ar- 
ranged, on a table in some central or public 
hall, a pitcher and glasses, in such wise as to 
tempt the first officers entering to drink. He 
then joined the rebel force in flight. But 
the suspicions of the Federal Officers were 
aroused and an investigation followed. The 
table was found to be connected by wires 
with a magazine of powder. It was the deed 
of a fiend and universally execrated. It was 
contrary to the rules of warfare and Raines 
was a trained soldier. It was against civil- 
ization for the whole country. South as well 
as North, had for months foreseen that the 
capture of Richmond meant the end of strife. 
It was against the instincts of humanity for 
it was a stab at his former brother officers. 

It was while at Fort Gratiot that orders 
came to Dr. Tripler to go to California. The 
troops went by Steamer from New York 
though Dr. Tripler thought it a great cruelty 
to start them at a season when cholera was 
raging on the Isthmus. It was June, 1852. 
The crossing of the Isthmus was fearful. 
Shiploads of laborers for the railway died as 
fast as they came — or, as the saying was. 



The California Service 107 

*'An Irishman for every tie." Miasma and 
pestilence were everywhere. The troops 
went by boat up the Chagres River which 
was covered with a heavy, green slime. Then 
they marched through mud so deep it was 
soberly said certain soldiers were actually 
lost in the mud and never found. Of course 
this meant that sometimes, while on" the 
march, soldiers were attacked with cholera, 
and, being unable to keep their place in col- 
umn, would lie down in the mud. Death at 
times came swiftly after the commands had 
passed on. Dr. Tripler said, when some 
such cases of sudden seizure were reported 
to him, he rode back to give relief but 
could find no patient at the point indi- 
cated. Out of 700 men, women and children, 
70 died on the Isthmus and Dr. Tripler was 
their only surgeon. But a ship's surgeon at 
Aspinwall, for very pity's sake, crossed with 
Dr. Tripler to give him aid. The officer who 
so volunteered was Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, 
afterward of Arctic fame. It was an heroic 
deed and appreciated by Dr. Tripler who 
had unbounded admiration for Kane. Years 
after, some time following Kane's return from 
the far North, the two met in Cincinnati and 
renewed their friendship. 

Before leaving New York, Dr. Tripler 
wrote the Surgeon General it was murder to 



108 Eunice Tripler 

attempt the crossing of the Isthmus then. 
But the reply was it would be "quickly over." 
I wrote to my husband in New York to let me 
join him. Other officers' wives were going. 
He answered "Should you come I could not 
give you a moment of my time." The Pan- 
ama Railway was not finished till two years 
later. In going to such a place a surgeon 
knows his own peril. I cannot believe Dr. 
Tripler ever dreamed a canal across the 
Isthmus would one day be attempted. 

In Panama Bay the sick were put aboard 
a certain vessel to which were also assigned, 
by order of the Commanding Officer, a Col. 
Bonnerville, all the women and children. 
This Col. Bonnerville was a very stupid man 
mentally — appointed from civil life. The 
only medical officer in attendance was Dr. 
Tripler and he was worn out by his exhaust- 
ing duties. He was indignant at the in- 
humanity which could so needlessly imperil 
the lives of the women and children. The 
hospital stewards, enlisted men, were ex- 
tremely negligent of their duties to the sick 
and Dr. Tripler called for an officer each day 
to remain twenty- four hours and compel these 
men to do their duty and look out for desert- 
ers. The officer assigned one day to be with 
him in this way was Lieut. U. S. Grant. An- 
other officer, Lieut. Gore, so detailed to assist 



The California Service 109 

Dr. Tripler died of the cholera on this ship. 
The soldiers hated the duty and confinement 
of the hospital ship and, in very many cases, 
promptly and quietly dropped over the side 
and swam ashore. Col. Bonnerville was 
greatly exercised at the action of Dr. Tripler 
and threatened to have him court-martialed. 
But Dr. Tripler told him he wished he would 
make his threat good for that he wanted 
nothing better than such an opportunity to 
let the full conditions be known. My hus- 
band's previous army experience in Maine, 
Arkansas and Florida had given him a wider 
outlook than that of most officers. 

Three months after Dr. Tripler left me Mr. 
Bissell died and I went at once to house- 
keeping and took my Mother and the Bissell 
family. 

In San Francisco expenses were so great 
Dr. Tripler engaged in private practice for 
his own maintenance and sent me all his 
pay which I needed for the family in De- 
troit. At this time there was a mail to and 
from California but once a fortnight. An ad- 
dition of two dollars per day to their regular 
pay was made to all officers in California to 
live on. U. S. Grant had a coal yard in San 
Francisco. Wallen had a milk route. Tur- 
keys cost $25 each. While in San Francisco 
in 1853 Dr. Tripler made a partnership for 



110 Eunice Tripler 

private practice with a Dr. Hewitt of New 
York City. This continued about a year, 
when, for domestic reasons, Dr. Hewitt had 
to return to New York. Being in a strait 
for money he borrowed of Dr. Tripler $550. 
No part of this sum was repaid to Dr. Trip- 
ler though he told me in 1866 that he be- 
lieved Dr. Hewitt was perfectly honest and, 
if he could get ahead in money matters, he 
would pay the debt. Some time after Dr. 
Tripler 's death, I wrote Dr. Hewitt an ex- 
act statement of my financial condition and 
the burdens I had to carry. I told him of 
my husband's faith in him and I enclosed his 
note to Dr. Tripler for the $550 — now out- 
lawed. He replied immediately that when 
he made his next half-yearly collections he 
would remit the amount. And this he did, 
sending the money in greenbacks by express. 

In 1854 Dr. Tripler was ordered to Benicia 
though really needed in San Francisco in 
his profession for consultation especially. 
The rule of Jeifferson Davis, now Secretary 
of War, was "two years at a post." So there 
was no leaving for Dr. Tripler till 1856. 

While in San Francisco Dr. Tripler was 
one of the vestry of Grace Church to greet 
Bishop Kip on his arrival and ask him to be- 
come its Rector. The Bishop asked the finan- 
cial condition. "Well, Bishop, the sheriff is 



The California Service 111 

at the doors." The Bishop became Rector. 
At Benicia Dr. Tripler became a Lay Reader. 
Gen. Townsend and he clubbed together, 
hired and furnished a room for service^ both 
were licensed by the Bishop and alternated in 
taking the service. A Miss Atkins, a Presby- 
terian, kept a boarding-school in the place. In 
some way her teacher of mathematics failed 
her. Dr. Tripler said to her cheerfully, 
"Why, I will take those classes." This kept 
the school from a break-down. Of course this 
was done quite gratuitously and Dr. Tripler 
taught in this way for about a year. Nat- 
urally, Miss Atkins and her pupils came some- 
what to the lay service. At last Dr. Tripler 
wrote to Bishop Kip there was a class of four- 
teen ready for Confirmation, instructed by 
himself. The Bishop came and confirmed 
them. This was the beginning of Church life 
in Benicia. Miss Atkins finally became a 
Communicant and her school developed into a 
Church institution. 

In California Dr. Tripler was associated 
with U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, Joseph 
Hooker, E. D. Townsend. Hooker, at this 
time, was a gambler and drunkard. Grant 
was in my husband's care and Dr. Tripler 
was entirely frank and open in dealing with 
his case. He, at last, resigned from the Army 
and came East. From the difference in rank. 



112 Eunice Tripler 

first in Dr. Tripler 's favour and later in 
Grant's, there was hardly intimacy between 
the two. 

From the savings of his private practice in 
California Dr. Tripler lent $3,000 and lost 
it. ' His loss resulted from his placing this 
money in the hands of Gen. Charles P. Stone, 
who had gone into the banking business in 
San Francisco and whose chief clerk, a son 
of Col. Cleary of the Army, proved to be an 
embezzler and fled with the funds of many 
officers. This was the Gen. Stone who was 
confined in Fort Warren, Boston Harbour, 
during the Civil War and who afterward be- 
came Stone Pasha of Egypt. Dr. Tripler 
had $1,700 when he got to Detroit. He re- 
turned East by the Isthmus and I met him 
in New York. We went on to Washington 
for three days, where Dr. Tripler reported 
and presented his returns and accounts. Then 
we hastened to Detroit, for Dr. Tripler 
wanted to see the children so much. 

Some time in the year 1852, while Dr. 
Tripler was in California, I met the author, 
James Fenimore Cooper, at a dinner party at 
Gen. Cass*. When I understood Cooper was 
to be present I tried to excuse myself, but 
Mrs. Cass insisted on my going. I remember 
specially Cooper's talking about the arro- 
gance and self-sufficiency of Englishmen. 



The California Service 113 

Once, he said, he was at a public house where, 
in the course of the dinner, boiled potatoes 
were served with the fish. An Englishman, 
at his side, declined the vegetable, saying 
haughtily, "We never eat potatoes with fish." 
*'Ah," said Cooper, stabbing a big one with 
his fork, "We always do." 

During Dr. Tripler's absence in California 
we one Summer had much more than the usual 
cholera scare. All our neighbours and friends 
fled — most of them going to Mackinac — the 
Canfields, Gen. Cass' family and all. From 
our home on Fort Street I could not see one 
house that was occupied, and most of the 
houses in this condition were entered and 
robbed. But I could not leave. I could not 
break up my family and abandon our house to 
be plundered. I was very nervous at night — 
but bold as a lion by day. I told a gentleman 
friend that if I had a pistol I believed I 
would entirely recover from the cholera scare. 
He brought me a pistol and taught me to use 
it by practice at a target in our back yard 
ISO feet off. I got so that at that distance 
he said I would be sure to hit a man — and I 
had much comfort in the thought. Of course 
every one knew I was pistol-practising from 
the sound of the firing. I felt much more 
secure and could, at last, sleep. My friends 
used to laugh at my new cure for the cholera 



114 Eunice Tripler 

scare. It was fortunate that the outbreak 
of the disease was late in the season, for frost 
soon brought immunity. However, I counted 
fourteen funerals passing our house one after- 
noon. 

The California duty separated my husband 
and me forty-six months. 

While he was in California the wife of Sen- 
ator Gwin came to Dr. Tripler and tried to in- 
duce him to attend her husband on the duel- 
ing field. Dr. Tripler declined and sent word 
to the Senator not to go out. The Senator 
did not go. In this Dr. Tripler, of course, 
gave up an enormous fee. 

Dr. Tripler never opposed beer-drinking 
nor wine-drinking by the soldiers at an army 
post, and I am entirely sure the modern move- 
ment for abolishing the "canteen" would have 
found no friend in him. He was the truest 
kind of a temperance man both in precept and 
example. For myself, I feel deeply that the 
soldier has a right to his light drinks. And 
it is, in my opinion, better to provide them at 
the post itself than to force the soldier to 
go for them outside. When he goes, he thinks 
he must improve the occasion by "filling up" 
on poor whiskey. When he knows by walking 
across the parade-ground he can get his beer 
at any time, he loses half his desire for it. 

Dr. Tripler was associated with Gen. John 



The California Service 115 

E. Wool in California. Gen. Wool was a man 
of most egregious vanity and very unpopular 
with his brother officers and in the Army gen- 
erally — but was quite obtuse to the fact. He, 
one day, dilated to Dr. Tripler on the subject 
of his own possible illness and death and the 
consequent trouble and care which would re- 
sult to the command in the necessary arrange- 
ments for the funeral of an officer of his rank. 
Dr. Tripler long afterward used to chuckle 
over the reply he made. P'or he said, "Don't 
give the subject another thought. General. 
The officers will be simply delighted to at- 
tend to the matter." Gen. Wool looked rather 
wild at this. 



VIII 
NEWPORT, KENTUCKY 

In July, 1856, at Newport, Ky., Stuart, 
then twelve years old, was taken ill from eat- 
ing cherries and then going to swim in the 
river. The mosquitoes and the stifling heat 
were almost intolerable. I literally gave up 
my whole time to his care — though I was going 
to be confined in November. I watched with 
him, slept with him and carried him in my 
arms whenever he was to be moved. I would 
even run with him in my arms up and down- 
stairs. I read to him nearly all of Scott's 
and Cooper's novels to keep him quiet. Dr. 
Tripler was, of course, much engaged with 
his lectures in the Cincinnati Medical Col- 
lege and his outside duties generally. But I 
lived with and for my boy — as I lived after- 
ward with Dr. Tripler in his illness — and 
with Allie in hers. It is no wonder that now 
my heart is in tatters. One thing surely was 
in my favour in these long physical strains. I 
could always eat heartily and with thankful- 
ness that I had the ability. 

During his five years at Newport Dr. Trip- 
ler studied Astronomy and often assisted 

117 



118 Eunice Tripler 

Prof. Mitchell in his observations at Mount 
Adams. The two men became very intimate 
from the similarity of their tastes. 

The Rev. Charles Page, Chaplain at New- 
port (Priest of the Church), complained to Dr. 
Tripler that the men did not come to his ser- 
vice. Dr. Tripler said, "Well, Sir, when you 
wear the dress proper to your calling, perhaps 
the men will more respect your office." Mr. 
Page replied, "Yes, I wish I had a black 
gown." "No," said Dr. Tripler, "you ought 
to have surplice and stole — and I will pro- 
vide them if you will pledge yourself to wear 
them." The offer was not accepted. Mr. Page 
said to Col. Heintzleman, "Colonel, if you will 
attend service you may influence the men." 
The Colonel replied very slowly, "Well, I 
agree if Mrs. Page will write all the ser- 
mons." 

On an Easter Even the wife of Col. Bu- 
chanan said to me, "Oh, to-morrow is Easter 
and I have made no preparation at all for it. 
It is really necessary that the Colonel should 
have something new to wear. I must go to 
Cincinnati and get it for him at once." And 
she went and bought her husband a new un- 
dershirt. Even that, I thought, was better 
than nothing. 

One day, while at Newport, Dr. Tripler 
came home and asked me, "Whom do you 



Newport, Kentucky 119^ 

suppose I saw in Cincinnati to-day ? Old Fox 
Morris and Arthur's widow." Dr. Tripler's 
acquaintance with Capt. Benj. Arthur 
dated from the Seminole War, and the 
two had served together also in Mex- 
ico and were both founders of the Aztec 
Club. 

In the Winter of 1860 to '61 at Newport, 
Dr. Tripler wrote his "Handbook for Mil- 
itary Surgeons." If this could have been 
generally circulated through the Medical 
Corps it would have been a great boon to 
the Army and country. Dr. Tripler later 
wrote by circular to all Medical officers under 
him to make formal requisitions for things 
needed. Sometimes these officers hardly 
knew what a requisition was. The Army 
needed an efficient General Staff. In "Gen. 
McClellan's Own Story" this is made very 
clear by him. 

It was while we were in Newport that I 
prevailed on my Mother to go to Washington 
and apply for a pension — for I felt the jus- 
tice of her claim, though my Father had died 
actually out of the service. On this errand 
my Mother went to Washington in the Win- 
ter of 1858-'59. She staid with a family 
named Fillebrowne, whom she had befriended 
and really for a time supported in their ex- 
treme poverty years before. They were now 



120 Eunice Tripler 

in easy circumstances and insisted on keep- 
ing my Mother as their guest. 

There was a hackman named Earle who 
made himself known to my Mother as a for- 
mer friend of my Father's and who volun- 
teered his aid and gave it on several occa- 
sions. He said my Father had helped him 
and he was now glad to return the favours. 
The bread cast on the waters had come back. 

My Mother did not know exactly to whom 
to apply for help. But she knew the City of 
Washington and had hosts of Army friends. 
Still their advice was conflicting and con- 
fusing. My Mother, however, decided to see 
Jefferson Davis, Senator from Mississippi, 
who had been Secretary of War in Pierce's 
Cabinet, 1853 to '57. She called at the ho- 
tel where the Davises were staying. It proved 
to be their breakfast-hour. Mrs. Davis came 
forward and received my Mother. In a short 
time Mr. Davis also appeared with a news- 
paper in hand. Mrs. Davis introduced my 
Mother and stated her errand in a few words. 
My Mother took breakfast (or rather coffee, 
for she had breakfasted) with the Davises. 
They had a private table. My Mother's mode 
of speech was very touching and effective. 
She told Mr. Davis she wished to relieve Dr. 
Tripler of the burden of her care. Mr. Davis* 
advice was, "Go and see Mr. Crittenden (Sen- 



Newport, Kentucky 121 

a tor from Kentucky) and tell him your case 
just as you have told it to me, but don't tell 
him I sent you." This my Mother did. She 
afterward saw Jeff Davis at the Capitol and 
he gave her more advice, handing her a writ- 
ten list of a number of Congressmen whom 
she should see, and assuring her he had him- 
self seen a number in her interest. She saw 
Senator Seward of New York and he said to 
her, "You had better see Senator Clay of 
Alabama. If you can get him to say nothing 
when your case comes up in committee it will 
be a great advantage." Clay was on the 
Pension Committee. He said, "Mrs. Hunt, 
I have made it a rule never to vote for private 
pension bills. But your case is a just one. 
Yet I cannot break my rule." My Mother 
bowed her head and said simply, "I am so 
sorry." Senator Clay added, "I will do this : 
When your case comes up in Committee, I will 
leave the room." On the advice of friends, 
my Mother went on a certain day to the re- 
ception-room of the Committee on Pensions 
and waited there. Presently the door opened 
and Mr. Clay came out. He bowed to her in 
silence. My Mother knew then that her bill 
was being considered, and, soon, that it was 
favorably reported. It was an interesting oc- 
casion in the Senate when the bill was finally 
passed. Senator Crittenden proposed to in- 



122 Eunice Tripler 

crease the amount from that first recom- 
mended. This was at once agreed to. Mr. 
Crittenden then rose and bowed in a stately 
way to my Mother who was seated in the 
gallery. He was a gentleman of the old 
school and this small act was graceful and 
gracious. In six weeks from the time she 
left home my Mother was back with the 
pension paid from the date of application. 
Jefferson Davis said to my Mother, "Mrs. 
Hunt, come to Washington next year and get 
your back pension" (from date of my Father's 
death). But "next year" brought other mat- 
ters to Jefferson Davis. The pension granted 
my Mother was $420 per year, i. e., one-half 
the pay proper of a Captain at that time 
(other allowances were for forage, quarters, 
servant, transportation, etc.). The weak 
points in my Mother's application were, first, 
the fact that my Father was not in actual 
service at the time of his death. Secondly, 
the records of the War Department were 
burned in 1814 when the British took Wash- 
ington. No records exist now in the Adjutant 
General's office back of that date. In 1859, 
however. Gen. Jessup was Quarter Master 
General. He had been a companion and 
fellow-prisoner of my Father and gave his 
testimony as to this fact and as to their cap- 
ture and exchange. The very next year Gen. 



Newport, Kentucky 123 

Jessup died. Gen. Gibson, Commissary Gen- 
eral, also testified to my Father's coming to 
Washington while suffering and his being 
long under treatment there. The testimony 
of these two was most helpful. 

When ray Mother's bill passed, Gen. 
Palmer (of the Engineers) sent a telegram to 
Dr. Tripler (in Newport). The telegram 
read, "My bill passed half an hour ago. Four 
twenty per year." I saw Dr. Tripler open 
the envelope. He threw his cap into the air 
and cried out, "Hurrah for Grammy." 

To this time Dr. Tripler had been giving 
to my Mother $200 per year, to my Sister 
Ellen $300 and to his own mother $200. 

Dr. Tripler took an intense dislike to Jef- 
ferson Davis while Secretary of War. His 
orders were injudicious and tyrannical, arbi- 
trary and hard to be carried out. I have 
often wondered why he treated my Mother so 
courteously and really believe her beauty had 
much to do with it. 

When Jefferson Davis was confined in 
Fortress Monroe in 1865 and 1866 my son 
Stuart was a Lieutenant and stationed there. 
As officer of the day he repeatedly walked 
by Mr. Davis* side when he was out for ex- 
ercise. Stuart told Mr. Davis he was Mrs. 
Hunt's Grandson — whom Mr. Davis said he 
well remembered. My Mother wrote to 



124 Eunice Tripler 

Stuart to tell Jeff Davis she was still mindful 
of his kindness. This Stuart did, and Mr. 
Davis was much moved. Stuart said Mr. 
Davis was a very interesting man from the 
width of his information. One day he pointed 
out a little insignificant shrub growing on the 
ramparts. "That is so-and-so. It is good for 
such a purpose." He talked to Stuart one day 
about certain varieties of rare birds. On an- 
other occasion he gave him some prescrip- 
tions for certain horse diseases. They never 
talked of politics, but Stuart was impressed 
with the depth of Mr. Davis' sorrow and dis- 
appointment as a broken-spirited man. 

At Newport in January, 1861, the wife of 
Col. James Ebert (formerly a Miss Taylor), 
being a rank secessionist, said to me, "Our 
Army is worthless; it has no spirit; it is the 
scum of the earth." I said to her, "Answer 
for yourself. My husband does not belong to 
the scum of the earth." 

At this same time at the lowering of the 
flag at sundown, women secessionists of New- 
port would stamp and spit upon it, and an 
order was issued forbidding women to enter 
the grounds. A Col. James Taylor, cousin of 
President Zachary Taylor, announced that on 
a certain day he would have a flag-raising at 
his place, a few blocks distant, his house oc- 
cupying a noble and commanding site. All 



Newport, Kentucky 125 

his family were secessionists, and on this oc- 
casion Mrs. Taylor even drew down the cur- 
tains of the house and would not show her- 
self. I attended this flag-raising — though 
really to accompany my daughter Allie, who 
teased to go and who was wearing the uni- 
versal cockade of red, white and blue. Col. 
Taylor's speech was thrilling. He explained 
that he had selected this day as the anni- 
versary of the day his Father's family had 
arrived in Newport after their long journey 
of hundreds of miles down the Ohio. He 
dwelt upon their constant danger from the 
Indians and the perils of their wilderness 
life while the journey lasted. "But on this 
day we saw a little flag which seemed hardly 
larger than a pocket-handkerchief, floating 
from this point against the blue sky — and 
then we knew we were safe — and we've been 
safe ever since. And shall we be ingrates 
now.f* Let the flag wave." And instantly 
the beautiful great standard went up. I was 
deeply moved. 

Senator Crittenden followed. "You are 
going to let them drag Kentucky out of the 
Union. Then here will be the battle-field 
and you yourselves homeless. Do not be 
caught by these tricksters and designing men 
of the South." 

The first secession sentiment I ever heard 



126 Eunice Tripler 

proclaimed was by a Major Macklin, a Pay- 
master, in Newport. I arose at once and 
said, "Well, this is the first disunion speech 
I have ever listened to : — and it is in my own 
house. I will excuse myself. Good evening, 
Major Macklin." And I withdrew. 

I never saw cruelty of any sort shown 
toward the slaves who were, as I remember 
them, universally cheerful and content. Dr. 
Tripler had a niece who, when a young mar- 
ried woman, visited us in Newport. She em- 
ployed a poor colored woman, who had been 
a field hand in the South, as wet-nurse for 
her child. This negress was from the most 
ignorant and hopelessly degraded class. She 
was so strange to the interior of a house that 
she went upstairs on all fours, and in de- 
scending she would always back downward. 
I understood she had once been beaten with 
an iron poker for some act of insubordina- 
tion — but I believe such treatment was very 
rare. Surely it should have been unknown. 

Gen. William T. Sherman we used to see 
frequently while at Newport. He was often 
at our house. In California Dr. Tripler had 
attended his little son when ill, and, as Gen. 
and Mrs. Sherman always said, saved his 
life. The first time the Shermans came to 
our house in Newport Col. Sherman stood the 
little fellow on a chair, and, speaking in the 



Newport, Kentucky 127 

first person as in the boy's stead, made a lit- 
tle speech of gratitude to Dr. Tripler for 
what he had done for him in California a few 
years before. Some time afterward this boy 
died. Dr. Tripler had known Gen. Sherman 
when a cadet at West Point. 

While in Newport Dr. Tripler became im- 
pressed with the magnitude of the impending 
civil conflict and tried to prepare for it. He 
had studied the Crimean War and other mod- 
ern conflicts. He said in every well-contested 
battle one-third of the men are put hors de 
combat. In the Winter of 1860 to '61 he de- 
livered a course of lectures on Military Sur- 
gery in the Cincinnati Medical College, fore- 
seeing what w^as coming. The students were 
eager for this instruction. My husband 
through life was tried and irritated by the 
unfitness and unpreparedness of the general 
body of medical students. He deplored the 
admission into his chosen profession of so 
many young men of defective education, and 
such men had no chance to become Army 
Surgeons if they appeared before him 
while he was at the head of the Board of 
Examiners. 

While in the field, the course Dr. Tripler 
adopted was to send soldiers North for treat- 
ment in hospitals whenever feasible, and there 
he wanted the volunteer surgeons to be put. 



128 Eunice Tripler 

He wanted the regular Army Surgeons with 
him in the field, for many of these he himself 
had trained. 

Once Dr. Tripler was dining with Gen. 
Scott at his hotel. Gen. Scott had been ill 
and was under strict rule of diet prescribed 
by Dr. Tripler. Gen. Scott, who was a great 
gourmand, gave his order with much empha- 
sis, calling for a most sumptuous repast. Dr. 
Tripler said nothing, but as soon as the Gen- 
eral's plate was filled, said, "Waiter, remove 
the General's plate." Gen. Scott's face fairly 
flamed as the two looked at each other. Then 
he said, "You are right. Doctor. I am un- 
der your orders now." Had Gen. Scott taken 
another course Dr. Tripler would no longer 
have attended him and Gen. Scott knew 
this. 

Dr. Tripler admired Scott in a certain way. 
He was the only big General we then had. He 
liked to talk of his own achievements. Of- 
ficers, young and old, flattered him, and there 
was a good deal of what Dr. Tripler called 
"boot-licking." This was natural, because a 
Commanding General has such power to make 
under officers comfortable or uncomfortable. 
As an officer Dr. Tripler was himself always 
as firm as a rock. He obeyed an order on 
the instant and never sought an excuse. Yet 
Dr. Tripler would say, "Every one has some 



Newport, Kentucky 129 

weak point. Perhaps most of us have points 
not so harmless as Scott's/' For myself, I 
despised Gen. Scott and my husband and I 
used earnestly to disagree as to his charac- 
ter. 



IX 

; DURING THE CIVIL WAR 

In the Summer of 1861 Gen. Scott was 
manifestly breaking. A Virginian himself, 
the secession of his state and resignation of 
the many officers from the Army, caused him 
such distress as to make him really unfit for 
duty. As General of the Army he might have 
had the attendance of the Surgeon General 
or any other Medical Officer, but he always 
wanted Dr. Tripler to attend him. So, after 
coming to Washington from Patterson's com- 
mand in the Shenandoah Valley, Dr. Tripler 
went each day to the boarding-place of Gen, 
Scott before his own active duties of the day. 
He tried to keep all disturbing influences from 
the General and to retain in him courage and 
hope. One day Dr. Tripler reached Gen. 
Scott's before he was dressed, and took up a 
morning paper to read while waiting. As he 
read he was suddenly conscious, by a passing 
shadow falling through the window which 
opened on the front portico, of a long, strag- 
gling figure. He thought to himself, "There 
comes another Army contractor: I will give 
him a good snub; it is an outrage for him to 

131 



132 Eunice Tripler 

force his way to the General." (For even 
then Army contractors were notorious for 
tlieir effrontery. And Dr. Tripler was an- 
noyed that the outer guard had admitted this 
man to the house.) So, as he was conscious of 
hii; entrance into the parlour, Dr. Tripler, 
without turning or even lowering his paper, 
said quite sharply, "No, Sir, no, you cannot 
see Gen. Scott. It cannot be. He is ill and 
can see no one." And, then, he realized that 
all in the room were standing and in silence. 
He looked up and saw Abraham Lincoln. 
The President, of course, accepted the situa- 
tion and withdrew. "But," Dr. Tripler said, 
"I just wanted the earth to swallow me. I 
wanted to crawl under the table." Afterward, 
Schuyler Hamilton, one of Scott's aides, told 
Lincoln of Dr. Tripler's distress and the 
President laughed heartily. Younger officers 
who had known Dr. Tripler to snub certain 
men who were officious or opinionated appre- 
ciated this story. 

In the Winter of 1862 to '63, my Mother 
went to Washington to secure the appointment 
of Charles Bissell to West Point. While in the 
City she was invited to attend an entertain- 
ment by Hermann, the magician, at the White 
House. She at first thought she would not 
go, but finally was prevailed on to meet old 
Army friends, viz. : Gen. Meigs, Gen. Andrew 



During the Civil War 133 

Porter and Gen. Henry I. Hunt. My Mother 
was talking with Pres. Lincoln (in the East 
lioom^ where the company was gathered) 
when Mrs. Lincoln entered. She had on a 
white silk dress and a garland of roses on 
her head — her favorite attire. My Mother 
said to the President, "How very young she 
is looking." Mr. Lincoln smiled and was evi- 
dently much pleased. The entertainment 
itself was amusing. Hermann asked for the 
loan of a watch from the company. Secretary 
Seward, after some little delay, handed his 
watch to Hermann, who proceeded at once 
to pound it vigorously in a mortar. It was 
shortly afterward found intact dangling from 
a curtain-pole in the room. 

At the near prospect of Civil War I thought 
I would go mad. I would throw food into the 
grate. I wanted to die. Giving birth to three 
children in five years, together with Stuart's 
long illness, had affected me strangely. When 
Dr. Tripler left Newport and went to the 
front I had to sell and pack and store and 
move. I spent the Summer of 1861 in Thor- 
old, Canada, with my Mother and children. 
In December, 1861, I went to Washington to 
join Dr. Tripler, and remained there till 
25th March, 1862, when the Army of the 
Potomac moved to the Peninsula. I left all 
my children with my Mother in Canada. In 



134 Eunice Tripler 

Washington Dr. Tripler had one room only 
and very insufficient accommodation gener- 
ally, and when my going on was mooted he 
wrote me that Washington was over-crowded 
and stricken with small-pox and had become 
one great military camp, but I replied that I 
**could roost on a lamp-post." Nearly every 
day in Washington I went to the Capitol to 
watch the progress of legislation which might 
affect my husband's rank — and almost every 
evening I went to Dr. Tripler's office, where 
I soon found I could be of real help. He 
had to affix his signature to about eighty dis- 
charges of soldiers each day, and I could and 
did write his name on these papers so that 
no one could tell his signature from mine. 

On Sundays Dr. Tripler would work till 
shortly before the time for the Celebration 
of the Holy Communion, which we would at- 
tend together, of course, and, after service, 
Dr. Tripler would return again to his office 
and to his work. There was little time for 
rest in those days. The Church we attended 
was St. John's, Dr. Smith Pyne the then 
Hector — the same I went to as a child. Dr. 
Tripler's office was in the "Seven Buildings" 
on Pennsylvania Avenue near 17th St. He 
boarded only two doors away. His room was 
small and every appointment simple. He had 
not a large staff of workers. At the Capitol 



During the Civil War 135 

I tramped the pavement and the marble stair- 
cases with a heavy heart. I never went out 
evenings except to Dr. Tripler's office. One 
day Dr. Tripler was ill and I called in to 
attend him young Dr. WoodhuU of the Army 
who was caring for a small-pox patient near. 
I remember well the horse he rode, fully 
caparisoned and with a surgeon's beautiful 
saddle-cloth. I next met this Dr. Woodhull 
in 1879 in San Francisco and he told me of 
the awe he felt as a young surgeon in coming 
into the presence of Dr. Tripler and that 
when I addressed him as *'Charlie" he was 
entirely sure Divine retribution must over- 
take me. 

I had one interview in person with Gen. 
McClellan, to whose staff my husband was 
attached as Chief Medical Director of the 
Army of the Potomac. I went alone and with- 
out my husband's knowledge to Gen. McClel- 
lan's house. At the door-step I met President 
Lincoln. He was in the famous suit of grey 
clothes. It was the early evening and the 
President had come to Gen. McClellan's for 
a conference. He and I stood together on 
the front step. As the door was opened the 
President stepped back to allow me to enter. 
No words passed between us. I noticed well 
his kindly face — with the deeply harassed 
look it bore. 



136 Eunice Tripler 

I sent in my card to Gen. McClellan with 
a request to see him "for five minutes." When 
he appeared I told him at once my errand: 
"Dr. Tripler knows nothing of my coming, 
but he is suffering cruelly from insufficient 
rank. For example, every ambulance in the 
Army is subject to control by the Quarter- 
master's Department. Your Chief Quarter- 
master has the rank of General, while Dr. 
Tripler, with responsibility for 250,000 men, 
has the rank of Major." I said, "If you are 
suited with my husband give him the rank his 
duties require. If you are not suited with 
him, send him home." Gen. McClellan heard 
me in silence, looking at me calmly and 
gravely and said he would do all in his power 
to make Dr. Tripler's orders and suggestions 
effective. I said, "You are going to fight. Dr. 
Tripler asks hospital accommodations for 
20,000 men and is laughed at. He is working 
with his hands tied. Every one else seems 
to have power to squander money." While I 
was talking with Gen. McClellan, his wife 
came to him and, after greeting me, inquired 
of him if Mrs. Smith (wife of Gen. "Baldy" 
Smith) might depend on transportation be- 
tween Washington and New York. From the 
projected move of the Army of the Potomac 
people hardly knew what to expect and I 
took this question as showing Gen. McClel- 



During the Civil War 137 

lan's wife knew no more than any one else. 
I remember she had a knitting needle in her 
hand^ and^ as she spoke, she tapped her hus- 
band with it playfully on the shoulder. 

Later, in the field, Gen. McClellan gave 
to Dr. Tripler carte blanche to say "By order 
of Gen. McClellan," and, later still, commen- 
surate rank was given to the Chief Medical 
Officer. 

The day of my interview with Gen. Mc- 
Clellan was the day of a great review of 
20,000 reserve artillery under my Cousin, 
Gen. Henry I. Hunt. This I witnessed in 
company with Mrs. Heintzleman, and I never 
shall forget the sight of that host of men, 
their battery horses in full gallop advancing 
upon the very spot where we stood. Mrs. 
Heintzleman said, "Oh, let's get away quick." 
But a bugle sounded and the whole mass 
wheeled on the instant to the right and swept 
past in review. 

At the solicitation and importunity of Mrs. 
Heintzleman I went to one White House re- 
ception by Mrs. Lincoln in the afternoon. I 
had no heart for such things then, but Mrs. 
Heintzleman prevailed on me. The wives of 
corps commanders were to assist in receiving, 
and so Mrs. Heintzleman and I stood behind 
Mrs. Lincoln in the line. Mrs. Lincoln was 
an ugly little woman. She wore a white silk 



138 Eunice Tripler 

dress, cut low in the neck, with a wreath of 
roses. I remember well when the wife of 
Gen. Emory was presented the word was 
added by the Marshal, "The great grand- 
daughter of Benjamin Franklin" (Mrs. Em- 
ory was formerly a Miss Bache of Phila- 
delphia). To this Mrs. Lincoln's salutation 
was, "Do you keep your health?" It was so 
incongruous and ridiculous I could hardly 
control myself. 

Mrs. Lincoln had the reputation in Wash- 
ington of a virago. Certainly she did things 
that were not nice. One day Secretary 
Seward was going with the President to some 
affair of State. Mr. Lincoln came out of the 
White House and entered the carriage. From 
an upper window, Mrs. Lincoln cried out, 
"Stop, Abe, stop. Take these children with 
you" (Robert and Tad). "And," said 
Seward, "those children kicked my shins all 
through that ride." Mrs. Lincoln dismissed 
all the gardeners but one, and all the laun- 
dresses but one — saving, in this way, from the 
White House expenses for her own purse. So 
far as I know, she did one and only one kind 
act to a Union soldier. She one day ordered 
the White House gardener to take a bouquet 
of flowers to a poor soldier whom she saw rest- 
ing on the curb-stone in front of the White 
House. Even then, I believe a drink of wins- 



During the Civil War 1S9 

key would have been better. New York mer- 
chants used to send garments to Mrs. Lincoln 
with letters asking the privilege to advertise 
that she would wear these things on certain 
occasions. It was all a great trial to the 
President. Yet he would turn it off with, 
**When Mrs. Lincoln says a thing, she's 
some." Several years after Mrs. Lincoln left 
the White House she offered her effects for 
sale. Robert Lincoln came out with a state- 
ment that his Mother had $60,000 in U. S. 
Bonds and a pension of $3,000 a year. 

It was commonly reported and believed that 
at Mrs. Lincoln's instance, both the White 
House gardener and the White House coach- 
man were commissioned as Lieutenants in the 
Army, and their pay, as officers, turned over 
to Mrs. Lincoln. Of course Mr. Lincoln 
knew nothing of this. When the Count de 
Paris and the Count de Chambord came to 
this country in 1862, Secretary Seward told 
Mrs. Lincoln it was quite necessary to enter- 
tain them at dinner at the White House. Mrs. 
Lincoln said she was unwilling to make the 
arrangement unless the Government would 
meet the expense. But Secretary Seward was 
insistent it should be done. At the time a 
great quantity of manure had been delivered 
at the White House grounds to be spread 
afterwards upon the grass of the lawns. 



140 Eunice Tripler 

This Mrs. Lincoln managed to sell and from 
the proceeds provided for the entertainment 
which was afterwards known generally as 
**the manure dinner." When about to leave 
the White House in 1865 Mrs. Lincoln or- 
dered all the silver of the table service to be 
packed up, preparatory to taking it with her. 
Of course she did not succeed in this. 

When Gen. Heintzleman took command of 
his corps in Virginia we went one day to see 
him. A sentry was pacing at a considerable 
distance from his quarters. I asked "Why.^*" 
"To prevent any one coming near enough to 
hear the telegraph operator." 

At Newport Dr. Tripler had operated on 
the daughter of Gen. and Mrs. Heintzleman 
for hip- joint disease, and successfully. They 
were most grateful. 

As I watched Congress in session I remem- 
ber seeing Henry Wilson of Massachusetts 
(Vice President in Grant's second term) look 
through his mail on his desk by simply tear- 
ing off the envelope and glancing at the sig- 
nature. Without even pretending to read the 
letter in many cases he would tear it in two 
and throw it into his waste-basket. I took a 
violent dislike to him. I was watching the 
progress of a bill to make Medical Directors 
Generals of the Army. 

One day Dr. Bellows, the famous Unitarian 



During the Civil War 141 

Minister of New York City, and, at the time, 
far up in control of the "Sanitary Commis- 
sion/' came to Dr. Tripler and promised to 
make him Surgeon General if he would, in 
advance, give the Commission certain privi- 
leges. Dr. Tripler said, "No, Sir, I believe 
in regular succession both in Church and 
State." 

I remember some young surgeons who used 
to laugh at Dr. Tripler for taking some of 
their number twenty-five miles on horse-back 
in the morning on duty and again as far in 
the afternoon. Washington was full of small- 
pox that Winter. I remember a little German 
toy-shop that I visited with Mrs. Heintzle- 
man. She said, "Oh, let's get out of this; I 
smell small-pox." The next morning the pa- 
pers reported it there. Through the Winter 
my great fear was for Dr. Tripler, who could 
not sleep. He could not get Army surgeons 
to take the field. They would keep in the 
hospitals. A Dr. Keeney took a Saratoga 
trunk into the field. Dr. Tripler issued or- 
ders limiting the amount of baggage permit- 
ted to Medical Officers. There was no room 
in the trains for more. He said to a subordi- 
nate, "Here is all I have with me. If you 
find any of our officers with more than this 
put it out in the mud." And that is where 
Dr. Keeney 's Saratoga trunk went. 



142 Eunice Tripler 

When at last the Army moved into Vir- 
ginia I remained for ten days or so in Wash- 
ington. In company with Mrs. Heintzleman 
and a Mrs. Smith, wife of an Army surgeon, 
I went in an ambulance to visit Dr. Tripler. 
He was astounded at our advent and received 
us very coolly. "To think of my wife com- 
ing into Army life in the field." "But Mrs. 
Smith said to come." "If all the Mrs. Smiths 
in the world said it I would not expect you." 
I had brought out butter and a huge bowl of 
chicken-salad which I carried on my lap in 
the ambulance. But I could eat scarcely any- 
thing, for my husband was ashamed of me 
and I felt it. At last came the question, 
"Where shall we sleep?" Dr. Tripler said, 
"I have ordered the young surgeons to find 
quarters where they can for the night and 
you will take their cots." He added, "This 
is no place for a woman." We could not un- 
dress. In the camp all was mud and dirt. 
Early in the morning a soldier entered the 
tent where we were to make up the fire. It 
had before given me pain to think of the dev- 
astation of Virginia, but I saw those cedar 
posts burn without regret. Naturally, we 
started early on our return. I remember the 
principal furniture of Dr. Tripler's tent was 
a table, a stove and a horizontal pole across 
which hung his saddle. 



During the Civil War 143 

In Washington I hardly ever went down 
town without seeing Gen. McDowell^ obese, 
with protuberant stomach and a tight belt. 
He was in those days designing a new uni- 
form for the Army and examining fabrics and 
colored plates. Meantime shoddy overcoats 
and garments were furnished the soldiers and 
blood money made by the Army contractors. 
Gen. Heintzleman used to say that every 
window curtain in Washington concealed two 
spies. He told me that President Lincoln was 
strangely obtuse to the danger of spies in the 
White House. On one occasion when a Coun- 
cil of War was being held there neither the 
doors nor windows of the apartment were 
closed until Gen. Heintzleman himself closed 
them. At the moment Gen. McClellan had 
been called on to disclose his plans for an ad- 
vance on Richmond and was about to unfold 
them. Many thought that Lincoln himself 
ought to have realized the danger and guarded 
against it. Mrs. Lincoln was suspected of 
sending intelligence to her Brother in the 
Confederate service — stationed at this time 
but a short distance from Washington on the 
Virginia side of the Potomac. 

When I left Washington for the North the 
crocuses were in bloom in the Capitol grounds. 
Two days later in Thorold my trunk had to 
be carried to the stable because the pathway 



144 Eunice Tripler 

to the house cut down through the snow was 
too narrow to admit its passage. The snow 
at the side of this pathway came up to my 
shoulders. 

While the Army of the Potomac was at 
Yorktown, Sen. Zach. Chandler visited the 
front, apparently under the impression that 
his superior wisdom was badly needed by 
those in command. He was one of those who 
could not believe in the presence of an enemy 
unless a big battle was being fought every 
day. At the headquarters he said, "Where 
are the lines drawn .f* Where is this enemy 
anyway.^'* My Cousin, Gen. Henry I. Hunt, 
Chief of Artillery, turned to his Aide and 
said, "Capt. Bissell, take Mr. Chandler along 
the lines and draw the enemy's fire." This 
consisted in throwing a shell from almost 
every battery in position — and, in each case 
and most promptly, the return shot from the 
Confederates would plump right down on our 
line. Frightened.'* Poor Chandler was ter- 
rified almost to death. He wanted the firing 
to stop. But Charley Bissell said to him, 
**But, Sir, this cannot be. You know you 
wanted to be shown the enemy's exact posi- 
tion and I must obey my orders." And he 
took him along the entire line. 

Dr. Tripler took an extra and brand new 
wig with him to wear at the glorious entry 



During the Civil War 145 

into Richmond — which all anticipated as the 
assured end of the Peninsular Campaign. 
But that wig was never worn. 

As head of the Army of the Potomac Dr. 
Tripler had unbounded admiration and im- 
plicit confidence in McClellan. He thought 
McDowell too self-centred and overcome with 
vanity. He put no reliance in Pope, knowing 
him to be a falsifier and questioning his dis- 
interestedness. He believed in the unstained 
patriotism of Burnside and his earnest and 
tinselfish purpose. He thought Hooker a 
leader of courage, but deplored his being such 
an egotist. He knew Meade as a topograph- 
ical engineer, but hardly otherwise. The du- 
ties of engineer were far removed from those 
of an army surgeon. Of course Dr. Tripler 
knew Grant so long and so well in California 
that he thought, in Grant's earlier campaigns, 
he was hardly a safe man to be entrusted with 
independent command on account of his per- 
sonal habits. Yet he knew Grant had taken 
a good, though not brilliant, grade at West 
Point — that he was unshaken in his loyalty 
to the Union — and knew enough not to talk 
too much about his military plans. He was 
a good deal surprised at Grant's earlier suc- 
cesses in the field, but, in his campaign of 
1864, Dr. Tripler used to say, "I believe 
Grant will succeed." And no man anywhere 



146 Eunice Tripler 

rejoiced more truly than Dr. Tripler at his 
final triumph. 

With Gen. Robert E. Lee Dr. Tripler had 
served in the Mexican War and for him he 
had a warm personal regard. I have some- 
times thought the two had a sort of spiritual 
kinship. Lee had a beautiful Christian char- 
acter, which was reflected in his attractive 
face. There was nothing of the "milk-sop" 
about him or Dr. Tripler either. Both were 
manly, independent Christians and neither of 
them, in any conceivable circumstances, could 
whine or squirm or indulge in any form of 
cant. 

During the time of McClellan's Peninsular 
Campaign President Lincoln nominated Dr. 
Tripler as Surgeon General of the Army. But 
political and personal influences prevented his 
confirmation by the Senate. At Harrison's 
Landing, Va., in July, 1862, Dr. Tripler was 
relieved and told he could have any duty out- 
.side the field. He chose to be Chief Surgeon 
in command of the Department of the Lakes, 
and came at once to Detroit. It is strange to 
think of the nature of the opposition that de- 
veloped to Dr. Tripler. The Surgeon Gen- 
eral was against him, for the rank of the two 
men was so nearly equal that their duties, 
especially the drawing of requisitions, had 
been conflicting and the experience had really 



During the Civil War 147 

been hard for both. Senator Howard was 
against Dr. Tripler. Zach. Chandler was 
against him. The Sanitary Commission was 
against him. The fact just then that he was on 
McClellan's staff weakened his cause. It 
is strange that a man like Chandler, whose 
life had been spent behind the counter of a 
shop, should presume to dictate what Dr. 
Tripler in his profession should or should not 
do. And there were positive reasons for his 
really befriending Dr. Tripler. My Brother- 
in-law, Mr. Bissell, years before, had, at 
Chandler's earnest solicitation, given him sub- 
stantial help financially. Mr. Chandler was 
in straits at the time and did not wish to im- 
peril his credit by effecting a loan. But Mr. 
Bissell borrowed the money he needed and 
lent it to him. This act saved Mr. Chandler 
from failure and business ruin. Dr. Farrand, 
himself a strong Republican, said the treat- 
ment accorded Dr. Tripler undoubtedly was 
the cause of his death. And Dr. Tripler had 
markedly befriended both Congressmen who 
now opposed him. When the Chandlers were 
about moving into their new home on Fort St. 
their daughter (afterward Mrs. Eugene 
Hale) was frightfully burned. Dr. Tripler 
attended her without fee. So, too, he was 
called to Mrs. Howard (being in the neigh- 
bourhood) when very suddenly taken ill and 



148 Eunice Tripler 

treated her successfully and gratuitously. Yet 
she afterward boasted that her husband had 
ruined Dr. Tripler. Of course my husband 
had intense desire to learn what charges could 
have been made against him. He wrote to 
Senator Howard to ask. The reply was very 
brief, stating simply that the proceedings of 
an Executive Session were never made pub- 
lic. Senator John Sherman afterward told 
Dr. Tripler that a soldier in Alexandria was 
promised his discharge if he would sign a 
complaint that the sick soldiers had to eat 
from the garbage of the camp to get food 
enough. "Will you vote to promote a man 
responsible for this.''" And this infamous pa- 
per was read before the Senate and defeated 
him. Undoubtedly the men who represented 
the Sanitary Commission often found Dr. 
Tripler quick and brusque. When they were 
boring him he would say, "Excuse me, but I 
have my duties and men's lives are hanging 
on these moments." "But we have lint here 
for hospital use." "So have I, eleven tons 
of it on this steamer." "But here are night- 
shirts and pillows for the soldiers." "Well, 
what can men in camp do with such things? 
But leave them. They can clean their guns 
with them." Poor sewing women were scrap- 
ing lint and Dr. Tripler said, "Why do this ? 
We sent at once to Holland for all the lint we 



During the Civil War 149 

could need, and we have it." Then Dr. Trip- 
ler would not coddle newspaper correspond- 
ents. He would not talk for the sake of get- 
ting himself talked about. When Dr. Barnes 
was made Surgeon General he wrote Dr. 
Tripler, "It was I or a civilian. I saved the 
office to the Medical Corps." In 1881 in 
Washington, Surgeon General Barnes told my 
daughter Eunice that no other man had ever 
done what her Father had to raise the spirit 
and tone of the Medical Corps. For years 
after Dr. Tripler's death it seemed to me I 
was walking about and being cared for by 
people who wanted to do for me for his sake. 
During the Summer of 1862 my Mother 
was in Thorold, Canada, with my younger 
children. She had rented a small house for 
the season and was keeping her own home. 
On 4th July she put out the American flag. 
The rebel sympathizers and secessionists 
came up to the house, an excited, angry mob, 
demanding that the flag be taken down. There 
was a great uproar in the street. But my 
Mother stood firm and said the flag should 
stay. She threatened to throw boiling water 
on the crowd. Her Brother-in-law, George 
Kiefer, a magistrate, came to remonstrate with 
her. "Allie, you are wrong in this. I cannot 
protect you. If you do this you must take 
the consequences." "Consequences !" said my 



150 Eunice Tripler 

Mother, "They will take the consequences." 
And she got hot water and a dipper, and, 
from the roof of the front porch, she threw 
some water outward toward the crowd. The 
moment the steam was seen rising into the 
air the mob broke and ran. My Mother stood 
on guard till sundown — and had no dinner — 
fearing a sudden attack. And the flag floated 
all day on her "Castle." 

My Mother had a keen sense of humor. 
And frequently visiting friends in Windsor 
and Amherstburg, Canada, she became dis- 
gusted at the self-importance and complacency 
of the Custom's Officers in the examining of 
baggage. On one occasion she took with her 
to Canada a hat-box needlessly large, and, 
on return by ferry to Detroit, she made a 
great pretense of confusion and reluctance at 
having to open it for inspection. "Must this 
really be? Is it actually necessary ? Can you 
not take my word for it?" "No, Madam, it 
is absolutely necessary that everything herein 
be laid open before me." So my Mother 
Anally produced the key and opened the box. 
Its contents did not fill one-fourth of the 
space, but she made the officer examine each 
article. "You know you said you must ex- 
amine everything. Now this box contains 
powder. Unfortunately I am very vain and 
proud of my personal appearance. So this is 



During the Civil War 151 

a necessity to me. And here is a packet of 
court plaster. Of course you know how that 
is used. And this farther box contains the 
hidden secrets of my toilet." The man was 
greatly embarrassed, but my Mother forced 
him to look at everything. 

In the Winter of 1862-'63, while living in 
our house on Woodward Avenue and Adelaide 
St., we were robbed of almost every article of 
family silver. My baby was worrying and I 
\^ould have said in the morning that I had 
been up with him the whole night, but I must 
have slept while the burglary was in progress. 
We found burnt matches all oyer the house, 
showing the men had dared to use a light. 
The few articles of plated ware, like a cake- 
basket and a pair of salt-cellars, had been 
tested by acid on the under side and left. All 
else was taken except one silver fork with 
which Dr. Tripler had eaten his baked potato 
i»i the Study the evening before and one silver 
spoon with which I had mixed his toddy. We 
called on detectives at once, but nothing was 
ever recovered, nor was any one ever arrested 
for the crime. Very many of the things taken 
could never be replaced — but we must be phil- 
osophical in such experiences. 

In the Winter of 1863-'64<, while Dr. Trip- 
ler was on duty as head of the Examining 
Board for Medical Officers in New York City, 



152 Eunice Tripler 

I was with him for some months. We 
boarded in Bleecker St. with a certain Dr. 
MapeSj a Professor of Chemistry, with whom 
my husband for long had a pleasant ac- 
quaintance. Dr. Mapes had taken a large 
house and had a number of boarders. One 
great advantage to us was the nearness to 
Dr. Tripler's office in the Army building. I 
remember that Dr. Mapes used to make out 
our monthly board bill to the "Temple of 
Friendship." We called one evening on the 
Grants at their hotel. They had two very 
small rooms. Gen. Grant made no splurge. 
Mrs. Grant had been suffering from cholera 
morbus and sent for me to come into her bed- 
room. She reminded me of Dr. Tripler's care 
of her in the earlier days and she said, "Now, 
Dr. Tripler must not come into this room." 
I said, "Certainly, he will not come here un- 
less you send for him." She replied, "But 
I am afraid he may say to me, 'Mrs. Grant, 
you are ill and must not go out to-night. You 
must keep quiet just where you are.' But I 
have promised to go to the Opera and prob- 
ably he won't let me." I answered, "But you 
can go to the Opera if you want to. Things 
have changed. You can trample on Dr. Trip- 
ler if you wish." But Mrs. Grant said, "But 
if Dr. Tripler forbids it, I wouldn't dare 
to go." 



During the Civil War 153 

In 1865 the Grants were in Detroit and a 
reception was given for them. I was in eve- 
ning dress. Late in the evening as I stood 
beside the Grants, Mrs. Grant nudged me 
with her elbow, school-girl fashion, as she 
said to her husband, "Now, General, here is 
Mrs. Tripler with a low-necked dress. I 
have a neck, too. But you don't let me wear 
such a dress." I said, "But you really ought 
to. Every woman is bound to make the best 
appearance she can in observance of the 
proper customs of her time and station." I 
thought I would help her this much — for I 
was an older woman than she. Gen. Grant 
kept silent, uttering no single word — entirely 
impassive. He said in a moment, "Where is 
the Doctor.'*" I replied, "I think he has gone 
out for a smoke" (a fact). "Oh," said he, 
"and I have a pocket-full of cigars right 
here." He was plainly sorry they could not 
take their smoke together. I have reason to 
think that my words on this occasion had 
weight, for I understood that at like compan- 
ies a little later Mrs. Grant wore rather more 
conventional attire. She certainly did, on 
the next occasion when I met her, which was 
in 1879 at a reception given by Gen. Mc- 
Dowell at Black Point in San Francisco 
Harbour. 

At this reception one rather amusing in- 



154 Eunice Tripler 

cident occurred. A Priest of the Russian 
Church was standing in one of the rooms, 
with his hands folded and hidden in his flow- 
ing sleeves and his whole figure absolutely 
motionless. His face looked waxen. Not 
an eyelid nor a hair moved. I thought the 
object was a manikin, and said to Eunice, 
*'This is a fine piece of art/' and instinctively 
and without thought put out my hand and 
touched the figure — which, thereupon, moved 
off in a rather stately way, and to my own 
confusion. 

During our stay in New York Cil:y, in 1864, 
Dr. Tripler and I called on Col. Robert An- 
derson (of Fort Sumter) and Mrs. Anderson 
and they several times visited us. Col. An- 
derson was a nervous wreck and showed it. 
His health was shattered by the fearful strain 
of his experiences in Charleston Harbour in 
the Spring of 1861, and he never again was 
strong. 

There seemed to be a very moving hero- 
worship in the South, especially on the part 
of the women, during the Civil War. This T 
account for from the fact, as I think it to be, 
that the Southern leaders were, speaking gen- 
erally, more tender and chivalrous than those 
of the North. Their ideals were not so mer- 
cenary. Their breeding had been different. 



DR. TRIPLER'S DEATH 

After his retirement from the field. Dr. 
Tripler's duties as Chief Surgeon of the De- 
partment of the Lakes were in Detroit, 
Columbus and Cincinnati, as headquarters 
was moved from time to time. The last home 
of Dr. Tripler was on Lafayette Avenue near 
3d St. My Husband's illness began in the 
Spring of 1866, when trouble developed in 
the right ear. Three small glands on the side 
of the face became implicated, one after an- 
other. He suffered no pain till seven months 
before his death, when the malignant char- 
acter of the disease became apparent. 

While lying ill in the Summer of 1866 Dr. 
Tripler received a call from Gen. Grant 
("swinging round the circle" with President 
Johnson) and Gen. Rawlins of his personal 
staff and Gen. Barnes, the Surgeon General. 
The party came by boat to Detroit from 
Cleveland. They came to our house shortly 
after breakfast. Gen. Rawlins (whom Dr. 
Tripler knew but slightly) remained down- 
stairs and talked very pleasantly with my 
Mother. Gen. Grant and Surgeon General 

155 



156 Eunice Tripler 

Barnes went up to Dr. Tripler's room. Gen. 
Barnes threw himself on his knees at the bed- 
side and embraced Dr. Tripler — told him 
much about the Army, why he himself had 
accepted the Surgeon-Generalship, viz., to 
keep out some civilian, who otherwise would 
have had it, and so save it to the Medical 
Corps. The Sanitary Commission was mak- 
ing and unmaking everything. The Commis- 
sion had put Hammond into the Surgeon- 
Generalship, who had accepted the bargain 
Dr. Tripler declined — and he had been cash- 
iered. During all this talk Gen. Grant scarcely 
spoke. Downstairs, however, he talked with 
my Mother rather more freely. She asked 
him, among other things, why there was a 
fort at Yuma. (Charles Bissell had been 
stationed there.) In reply Gen. Grant said, 
"Nobody knows, Mrs. Hunt, for the reason 
that nobody has ever been able to find out." 

The attention of this call from the General 
of the Army and the Surgeon General was 
very gratifying to Dr. Tripler. He regarded 
it as a personal testimony that his own char- 
acter and services were esteemed far above 
the indication by the rank accorded him. 

One afternoon in the Summer of 1866 
Bishop McCoskry called to see Dr. Tripler. 
I chanced to be away when he came, but re- 
turned home as the Bishop closed his call 



Dr. Tripler's Death 157 

and met him coming down the stairs. He 
said, "Mrs. Tripler, I called to teach your 
husband, but I find he has taught me." He 
showed much emotion. 

The first week in October, 1866, Dr. Trip- 
ler went on to Cincinnati to have Dr. Black- 
man examine him. Of course I accompanied 
him. Death came finally (October 20th) and 
released him from his anguish. 

My Cousin, Henry Hazard, insisted on ac- 
companying me with the body to Detroit. Dr. 
Freyer and Mr. Radcliffe met us in Toledo. 
At Newport, before starting, Mrs. Swords 
brought me her bonnet and black veil. "You 
must use these. The veil will be a great re- 
lief and protection." And so I found it on 
the journey, for I was weeping much. 

Dr. Tripler's funeral took place 22d Oc- 
tober, 1866, from St. John's Church, Detroit. 
Nearly all the Clergy of the city were present. 
It was a military funeral. Dr. Pitcher was 
in charge. The artillery and infantry from 
Fort Wayne were in the procession. Four 
guns were dragged to Elmwood Cemetery. 
Non-commissioned ofiicers bore the bodv. 
Eight Army Officers were the pall-bearers — 
at their head Gen. Joe Hooker. From Colum- 
bus Gen. Hooker had telegraphed to know 
about the arrangements and who were to be 
pall-bearers. He was told. He said, "But 



158 Eunice Tripler 

where am I to be ? Am not I to be pall-bearer 
for my friend?" Some one said, "But, Gen. 
Hooker, you are too infirm to serve so.'* 
"Then," said he, "I will ride in my carriage 
beside the hearse and act as bearer in that 
way." And this he did. 

Dr. Tripler's death was announced to the 
Army by a General Order (of which I have a 
copy — No. 89). Gen. Hunt wrote me this 
was an unusual thing and a great honor to the 
Medical Department, which was put into 
mourning for three months. 

In the Surgeon General's report of Dr. 
Tripler's death to the Adjutant General he 
uses these words concerning Dr. Tripler: 
"His skillful administration and conscientious 
discharge of duty have been rewarded by 
three brevets for 'faithful and meritorious 
services.* The Medical Corps possesses, in 
his distinguished career, a bright example of 
the union of professional attainments, with 
the military zeal and pride of an officer and 
those qualities which mark the Christian gen- 
tleman." 

The marble monument over my husband's 
grave was erected by the Medical Corps of the 
Army. It was executed in Buffalo, N. Y., 
and its cost was $800. Major Farquhar made 
the drawing of the wreath of laurel cut upon 
the Cross in relief. I had a most interesting 



Dr. Tripler's Death 159 

correspondence with Dr. Satterlee in regard 
to the project. The Surgeon General issued 
a circular to the Medical Corps on the mat- 
ter. Subscriptions were limited in amount. 
Surgeons were not to give over $10 each and 
Assistant Surgeons not over $5. A very large 
proportion gave. Dr. Satterlee afterward 
sent me all the letters received. Many of 
them were most gratifying to me in their tone. 
One wrote he feared no suitable monument 
could be erected for such a sum and requested 
he might be called on again. Another wrote 
expressing his gratitude for Dr. Tripler's ex- 
ample and reputation, which, he said, were 
enough to stimulate himself and all other 
young surgeons to attain their highest ideal. 
This man had no personal acquaintance with 
Dr. Tripler. 

Bishop Armitage once sent me (from Mil- 
waukee) a copy of the "Pacific Churchman" 
with a letter from Bishop Kip of California, 
then East, in which he told of being in De- 
troit and driving with some friends through 
Elmwood Cemetery. He was attracted 
toward a certain monument and left the car- 
riage to inspect it. It was the monument to 
Dr. Tripler — a most remarkable coincidence 
— as the Bishop said "The only stone among 
all those thousands raised in memory of one 
I knew and loved." 



160 Eunice Tripler 

A large portrait of Dr. Tripler, done in 
India ink, hung for many years in the main 
hall of the old Army Medical Museum in 
Washington surrounded by much smaller pic- 
tures of past Surgeon Generals — a recognition 
of my husband's character and career very 
gratifying to me. Through the kindness of 
Gen. E. O. C. Ord, a duplicate of this pic- 
ture, handsomely framed, was sent me, as 
a gift from the Medical Corps. 

Dr. Tripler wrote his Manual for recruit- 
ing officers in 1858 while we were at Newport. 
He did not copyright the book because he 
meant to add to it. Of the first edition the 
Government took 750 copies and paid him a 
royalty of $350 thus formally recognizing 
his ownership. During the Civil War the 
Government issued many thousands of copies 
to the recruiting stations. Immediately on 
Dr. Tripler's death I applied for a pension 
and got one of $25 per month. In a year or 
so I applied for reimbursement for the Gov- 
ernment's use of the Manual. I wrote to 
Senator John Sherman. He replied that he 
would talk with Senator Edmunds about my 
claim. It seems that Senator Edmunds op- 
posed it on the ground that existing laws 
were sufficient and thus my case became hope- 
less. Two or three years later Congressman 
Lord introduced in Congress a bill for my 



Dr. Tripler's Death 161 

direct compensation for the Government's use 
of the work. My case, in its presentation, 
was strengthened by letters commendatory of 
the Manual and of the justice of my claim 
from Gen. McClellan (three in number) 
Gen. W. T. Sherman, Gen. Henry I. Hunt, 
Gen. W. S. Rosecrans, Gen. E. D. Town- 
send, Surgeon Gen. Barnes, Adjutant Gen. 
Drum. All these letters were finally lost to 
me in the Congressional Committees. Dr. 
Moore, Surgeon General, in a letter commend- 
ing the book and expressing the hope that 
at least $10,000 would be allowed me for it, 
used these words, "It was of inestimable 
value, coming as it did at exactly the right 
time and in the day of our great need." The 
first form of the bill was to grant me $10,000. 
The second bill was to pay me one-third of 
a cent for each copy used; another bill a 
fraction of a cent for each man enlisted by 
use of the Manual (about 3,000,000). Fin- 
ally, the bill was fixed at $3,000 in which 
form it was for years before Congress at each 
session. Senator Palmer told me $2,500 was 
the utmost sum he could get the Senate Mili- 
tary Committee favorably to consider. But, 
later, Senator McMillan got it through the 
Senate Committee and it passed the Senate 
itself at six sessions at $3,000 only to be 
hung up on the calendar of the House and 



162 Eunice Tripler 

never get to its final stage in that branch of 
Congress. Congressman Levi T. Griffin was 
the only Michigan Congressman who returned 
to me the papers committed to him. After 
my many years of failure and deferred hope 
it was almost against my wish — certainly 
without any expectation of success on my own 
part — that the bill, after my removal to 
Nebraska, was again introduced in January, 
1906. Senator E. J. Burkett introduced it 
in the Senate and proved my devoted and 
faithful friend in securing its passage by that 
body — while Congressman G. W. Norris was 
the most efficient and successful advocate of 
my cause in the House — where, really to my 
great surprise, the bill was finally passed 
19th January, 1907 — the anniversary of my 
husband's birth. I feel very grateful to my 
many friends who wrote to various Congress- 
men in my behalf. 

Once, at a recruiting station. Dr. Tripler 
was engaged in examining a man before a 
certain surgeon to exemplify his own methods 
of examination prescribed in his manual. 
The man under examination was extremely 
anxious to enter the army and was, of course, 
stripped and on all fours for the purpose of 
certain measurements and certain motions. 
As he ended his examination, Dr. Tripler 
turned to the desk to make a record and, in 



Dr. Tripler's Death 16S 

a moment, the surgeon present said to him in a 
low tone "Doctor, the recruit is still in the 
same position." Dr. Tripler glanced over his 
shoulder and seeing the man yet on all fours 
said to him simply "Jump up, now." This 
order the man interpreted literally, and, in 
a moment, began to leap into the air by a 
series of astonishing capers. There were 
some students present who were convulsed 
with laughter but Dr. Tripler felt rather con- 
fused by it. 

Dr. Tripler wrote less than he studied but 
his stores of knowledge were always at the 
service of his professional friends in civil 
life, who had less time than himself to give ta 
books. So far as I know he printed but 
these : 

I. Remarks on Delirium Tremens, 1827, 
being his graduating Thesis, published by 
request. 

II. A Treatise on the Duties of Physicians 
in regard to popular Delusions. 

III. A Treatise on the nature, cause and 
treatment of Scurvy. 

IV. Manual for the Medical Officers of 
the Army of the United States. Part I. Re- 
cruiting and the inspection of Recruits. 1858. 

V. Handbook for the Military Surgeon, 
1861. 

These last two were incomplete, the latter 



164 Eunice Tripler 

on account of his going to the field at the 
beginning of the Rebellion and the former 
being only the first part of the work which he 
hoped that he might live to complete to his 
own satisfaction. 

Dr. Tripler felt deeply whenever he ob- 
served a soldier in garrison doing small 
duties in connection with an officer's home, 
done by servants elsewhere, like watching 
the children, or dragging a baby-carriage. 
My husband said these things were demoral- 
izing to the soldier himself and degrading to 
the service and ought to be prohibited. The 
gratuity given by the officers for such work 
was not properly an element in the case. 

My husband, in the fifties, made a will 
in which he solemnly charged me never to 
permit a child of ours "To enter a schismati- 
cal place of worship." Two months before 
he died he wrote another will in which no 
such direction appeared for he said it now 
seemed to him as being a reflection against 
me in some sort — "as either not knowing or 
not willing to do the right thing without in- 
struction" from him. 

Dr. Tripler entered the Military Order of 
the Loyal Legion at its inception, becoming 
a member of the first Commandery — that of 
Pennsylvania. His insignia came to me from 
Headquarters some time after his death. 



XI 

A FEW GENERAL REMARKS 

During his term in the White House Presi- 
dent Hayes visited Detroit. At a reception 
at Gov. Baldwin's, my Mother told the 
President she had danced with Ex-President 
Monroe at the Inaugural Ball of John Quincy 
Adams in 1825 and had met at some time 
every man who had held the office of President 
since. This announcement was received by 
Mr. Hayes with a good deal of interest — 
and it livened things up — for the reception 
had been heavy and rather dull. 

A Capt. Jamieson, already married three 
times, was on the point of taking his fourth 
wife. He came to Dr. Tripler to learn the 
Order of the Marriage Service in the Prayer 
Book, for he said, seriously and very 
solemnly, "I have generally been married by 
a Presbyterian." 

A story much enjoyed by Gen. Grant and 
often told by Dr. Tripler was this. A soldier 
who had been stationed sometime at Fort 
Yuma died. A circle of Spiritualists later 
claimed to have communicated with him. He 
said he was getting on pretty well but he 

165 



166 Eunice Tripler 

really wanted his heavy overcoat. He was 
asked, "Why?" He replied, "Well, after a 
man has been at Fort Yuma for a while. Hell 
is an awfully cold place to live in." 

I have known personally seven Command- 
ing Generals of the Army, viz.: Brown, Mc- 
Comb, Scott, McClellan, Grant, Sherman and 
Sheridan. My acquaintance with Gen. 
Sheridan was of the slightest. The mother 
of Mrs. Sheridan was the adopted daughter 
of Col. (afterward Gen.) Whistler of the old 
Army. On account of my acquaintance with 
Gen. Whistler I once called on Mrs. Sheri- 
dan at the Russell House, Detroit. Gen. 
Sheridan came into the room and I, of course, 
met him. After he had gone Mrs. Sheridan 
spoke of the personal interest and magnetism 
her husband every where excited. She con- 
trasted him in this regard with Gen. Grant 
and his stolidity. She told me Mrs. Grant 
once said to her that, on one occasion in 
public, if she could have gotten near her hus- 
band she would have stuck a pin into him to 
wake him up. 

Gen. Halleck in command of our Armies 
from July, 1862, to March, 1864, I never 
knew — though he and Dr. Tripler had served 
together and were personal friends. 

It almost startles me, to try to realize 
the unbounded interest, Dr. Tripler, if alive. 



A Few General Remarks 167 

would be showing in the modern advance of 
medicine and surgery, especially the latter. 
He used to talk to the younger surgeons in the 
army to impress (upon them the value of 
study — and the value of the habit of study. 
He told them that whenever they were sta- 
tioned in or near large cities their oppor- 
tunities were exceptional for making advance 
in professional attainments. 

Dr. Tripler's attention was once called to 
the case of a poor man in Ypsilanti, Michi- 
gan, who had been injured by a railway 
train. As I remember it, both his legs and 
arms were broken and one thigh bone, several 
ribs and both collar bones. He had been 
given up to die when Dr. Tripler took him 
in charge, making the journey from Detroit 
to Ypsilanti, several times a week, luitil his 
complete recovery. The poor fellow's grati- 
tude was moving. He was a cabinet-maker 
and taught his art to Dr. Tripler — who made 
for me, with his own hands, a stand and 
several light chairs. The great element in 
this recovery was the man's hope and good 
cheer. 

After his marriage, Dr. Tripler's Army 
service was as follows: 

1841— 1846 in Detroit. 

1846—1849 " Mexico. 

1850—1852 " Detroit and Fort Gratiot. 



168 Eunice Tripler 

1852 — 1856 in California. 

1856 — 1861 " Newport Barracks. 

1861—1862 " Field. 

1862 — 1866 " Department of the Lakes. 

Dr. Tripler was graduated as M. D. from 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
(Medical Department of Columbia College, 
New York) 27th March, 1827. 

He was appointed Assistant Surgeon in 
the Army 30th October, 1830, his commission 
being signed 15th March, 1831, by Andrew 
Jackson. 

He was appointed Surgeon 7th July, 1838, 
his commission being signed 10th July, 1838, 
by Martin VanBuren. 

He received the honorary degree of M.A. 
from Columbia College, New York, 26th June, 
1860. He was appointed Colonel by Brevet 
29th November, 1864, his commission being 
signed 23d March, 1865, by Abraham Lincoln. 

He was appointed Brigadier General by 
Brevet 13th March, 1865, his commission be- 
ing signed 7th March, 1867, by Andrew 
Johnson. 

In the Summer of 1865 I was in Colum- 
bus, Ohio, with Dr. Tripler, and we were 
guests at the hotel where Gen. Rosecrans 
stayed. At table one day I remarked that it 
seemed to me Gen. McClellan was rather a 
taciturn man. "Taciturn," j>aid he, "Tacit 



A Few General Remarks 169 

urn, empty urn." No love was lost, appar- 
ently, between these two. 

I actually ache when I think of the world's 
scientific advance and all the problems in- 
ventors are now solving. It seems to me very 
great folly to put human life so in peril to 
reach the highest speed attainable by rail or 
automobile. Yet I sympathise with the toil 
and anxiety of these men and often wonder 
if the human race is better off in the long run. 
I can see no sign it is any happier — but 
rather the contrary. The world moves too 
fast in these days. It seems to me to lack 
even a tranquil enjoyment of its very pleas- 
ures. 

I remember once, at about the age of seven 
or eight years, examining the veining and 
structure of a small leaf — and being so im- 
pressed by the evident plan and purpose of its 
Maker that I shed tears. 

At the time of the "Old Catholic" confer- 
ence at Bonn, Germany, under the leadership 
of Pere Hyacinthe, I was greatly scandal- 
ized by the press accounts of those good men 
discussing the weightiest and most SDiritual 
subjects with great cans of beer at their el- 
bows and in an atmosphere blue with tobacco 
smoke. 

The impertinences of the modern press are 
simply intolerable. I often read what I think 



170 Eunice Tripler 

would abundantly justify the use of a horse- 
whip on the writer. 

In Army command I believe the inexperi- 
ence and enthusiasm of youth are better than 
the natural conservatism and imbecility of old 
age. 

Honest workmanship is at a discount in 
these days. Very few men seem willing to do 
what is right because simply it is right. 

The disregard of human life in modern 
methods of travel is to me most strange. The 
feverish rush and hurry and crowding — the 
indifference to another's rights, the inatten- 
tion to another's comfort — are hard for me to 
reconcile with my old ideas of the sanctity of 
the individual. And it seems to me that the 
saving of time we effect is almost pitiful — 
when so compared with its true cost. 

Dr. Tripler once deliberately changed his 
penmanship for me — altering it to make it 
more legible. This involved much time spent 
in practice. Few persons would do so much 
for another now, as I feel — and yet, the very 
basis of true courtesy is the comfort of others. 

I am actually frightened when I see by the 
newspapers the cheapening and insecurity of 
life in modern days. When I was a child if 
we heard of a murder what made the story 
unspeakably horrible was the universal feel- 
ing that we should presently hear of some- 



A Few General Remarks 171 

one's being hung for the crime. This fear or 
expectation of punishment does not seem now 
to exist — and it is to this cause I largely at- 
tribute our present conditions. 

That men should speak on public questions 
with personal disinterestedness and act on 
them with simple honesty and an eye to the 
general good seems to-day to be^ as the phil- 
osophers say, "the unthinkable." Yet in all 
these modern movements a Hand higher than 
that of man is to be seen and it is often not 
difficult to perceive its guiding. 

I feel that my life_, especially in its latter 
part, has been even wonderfully marked by 
the kindnesses done me. It seems again and 
again as though I had but stretched forth my 
hand to have it filled. And so much has been 
done for me in a beautifully deferential way. 
My tastes have been consulted. "Would not 
you like this or that?'* 

The longest time Dr. Tripler and I were 
together without break was the five years in 
Newport Barracks, Kentucky, 1856-'61. We 
always hoped in old age to have all our chil- 
dren about us, with no more anxieties nor 
separations. It has been otherwise ordered. 

I consider my removal from the Lake re- 
gion to Nebraska in 1900 as one of the great- 
est physical blessings in my old age. My ob- 
stinate bronchitis of more than twenty-five 



172 Eunice Tripler 

years' standings it was plainly beyond the art 
of man to cure, and, at times, it had given me 
the greatest distress, but in less than two 
months after the move, every trace of it had 
disappeared, as also had the rheumatic pains 
from which I had long suffered. I have no 
active malady. I feel only the discomfort of 
increasing weakness. As they turn now the 
wheels make friction — for the machine is run- 
ning down. (December, 1908.) 

In middle life my height was 5 feet 2 
inches. My weight at 38 or 39 years of age 
was 127 lbs. It was never that after Dr. 
Tripler's death. 

Once I was walking with Dr. Tripler in the 
old-fashioned way, arm in arm, on Jefferson 
Avenue, Detroit. I was suddenly conscious 
of his being in deep emotion. I looked up 
and saw his eyes were filled with tears and 
he presently recited softly and reverently the 
opening words of the old hymn : 

"When all Thy mercies, O my God, 

My rising soul surveys. 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 

In wonder, love and praise." 

And he said he did not deserve me nor the 
blessings of his home. He had a far too ex- 
alted opinion of my capabilities and character 
generally. 

In old age it is surprising how we get ac- 



A Few General Remarks 173 

customed to living. When my husband died 
I felt I must go too. I was in haste for the 
change. But the thought and desire passed. 
Now, in my old age and with love of life still 
strong upon me, I feel otherwise. In view of 
all the changes I have lived through I often 
feel as though I belonged to a former age of 
the world. With my mind all is now clear and 
I accept the fact of the approaching end of 
ray life. I look on my hands and see they are 
old. I am old. Yet we cannot now realize 
what life is without the body. But that we 
shall be cared for of the Good Father I know. 



Obituary 175 

From the Detroit "News" of Thursday, 
SI March, 1910. 

Mrs. Eunice Tripler, who was this after- 
noon buried in Elmwood cemetery, died on 
Monday last at St. Stephen's rectory, Grand 
Island, Neb., where she had made her home 
for the last ten years with her daughter, Mrs. 
L. A. Arthur. 

She was long a resident of Detroit^ and was 
a woman of an interesting personal history. 
She was born in Washington, D. C, in 1822, 
being the daughter of Capt. Thomas Hunt, 
U. S. Army, and her education was prose- 
cuted in that city with rather exceptional ad- 
vantages for so early a day. In 1836 her 
father removed to Detroit and her education 
was completed here and in a Church school in 
Utica, N. Y. 

In 1841 she was married to Surgeon 
Charles S. Tripler of the regular Army. Dr. 
Tripler served in the Seminole and Mexican 
wars and in the Civil War as first Medical 
Director of the Army of the Potomac on the 
staff of Gen. McClellan. Dr. Tripler died in 
1866, leaving an enviable record for profes- 
sional attainment and for integrity and up- 
rightness in every relation of life. Their 
children were nine in number, of whom four 
survive: Mrs. E. C. Hutchinson, of San Fran- 
cisco; Edward T. Tripler of this city; Mrs. 



176 Eunice Tripler 

I.ouis A. Arthur of Grand Island, Neb., and 
H. H. Tripler, of Tacoma, Wash. 

Among the earliest recollections of Mrs. 
Tripler was that of Gen. Lafayette during 
his visit to this country in the years 1826-7 
and his long stay in Washington, where he 
was a frequent visitor at her father's house. 

The winter of 1861-62 Mrs. Tripler passed 
in Washington with her husband, and she had 
a fund of pleasant anecdote concerning Presi- 
dent and Mrs. Lincoln and Washington life 
at that stirring time. She knew well, one 
might say, intimately, seven commanding 
Generals of the Army, from Gen. Alexander 
McComb down to and including Gen. Philip 
H. Sheridan. 

With Mrs. Tripler the powers of a mind of 
much more than ordinary grasp had been de- 
veloped by a course of liberal reading and 
study, and she was wont to express herself 
on topics of the day in quite an original fash- 
ion and with a brightness and sense of humor 
which made her conversation most enjoyable 
to all who knew her. 

Mrs. Tripler was a sincere and faithful 
Christian and a devoted and self-sacrificing 
wife and mother, and to all connected with 
her by the ties of kinship or in the wider cir- 
cle of mere social acquaintance she has left the 
witness of a singularly pure and devout life. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Adams, Mount, Observa- 
tory, 117 
Adams, President John 

Quincy, 49 
Advance of science, 169 
Age, respect for, 57 
Albertis, Capt., killed, 94 
Amherstburg, home of 

Alice Porsythe, 20 
Anderson, Col. Robert, 96, 

154 
Annoyance by a drunken 

man, 102 
Annoyance by spying, 101 
Army Medical Museum, 

specimen in, 90 
"Army of Occupation" in 

Mexico, 95 
Arthur, Capt. Beni. H., 

119 
Atkins, Miss, a teacher, 

111 
"Aztec Club" in Mexico, 

99 

Bankhead, Mr., 29 
Bell, Fannie. 61 
Bellows, Dr. H. W., 140 
Benicia, California, 110 
Bernard. Gen., in Engi- 
neer Corps, 33 
Betting, custom of, 57 
Bill-boards in Washing- 
ton, 58 
Bissell, Bishop. 69 
"Black Partridge," 66 
Blackwell's Island inci- 
dent, 86 
Bonaparte, Joseph, wife 

of, 55 
Bonnerville, Col., at Pan- 
ama, 108 
Books, Children's, rare, 27 
Boston, Illness of Thos. 

Hunt at, 19 
Brady, Gen. Hugh, 80, 

103 
Bronchitis cured, 171 
Brown, Gen. Jacob. 39 
Brown, Mr. Stephen, 84 



Brownstown, Incident of 
battle, 17 

Buchanan, President 
James, 49 

Buchanan, Mrs., observ- 
ing Easter, 118 

Buckner, Gen. S. B., 104 

Burlingame, Anson, at 
school, 70 

California, orders for, 106 

Callers entertained, 43 

Campbell, Sir Archibald, 
85 

"Camp Hill," Washing- 
ton, 58 

Canal-boat travel, 22 

Card playing, 56 

Carusi, a dancing-master, 
53 

Cass, Gen., 50 ; Secretary 
Robt. Forsythe, 20 ; 
daughter of, 26 ; home 
of, 50 

Chandler, Senator Zach., 
at Yorktown, 144 ; op- 
poses promotion of Dr. 
Tripler, 147 

Chimney-sweeps in Wash- 
ington, 44 

Cholera in Detroit, 113 

Christmas presents, few, 
27 

Church, Grace, San Fran- 
cisco, 110 

Church, St. John's, Wash- 
ington, 28 

Churches as hospitals in 
Mexico, 96 

Cincinnati Medical Col- 
lege, Lectures, 127 

Circus in Washington, 57 

City Militia in Detroit, 
69 

Civil War outbreak, 124 

Clay, Henry, 35 

Clay, Senator, from Ala- 
bama, 121 

Complexion, care of, 59 



179 



180 



Index 



Cooper, James Fenimore, 

112 
Crittenden, Senator, from 

Kentucky, 120 
Curtsy, The, 54 

Dancing school, 53 
Davis, Jefferson, in Con- 
gress, 120 : at Fortress 
Monroe, 123 
Debates in Congress, 35 
Detroit in early days, 63 
Detroit, removal to, 68 ; 
general description of 
in 1836, 68 
Disregard for life, 170 
Drinking, universal cus- 
tom, 29 ; changes noted, 
46 ; Election Day, 81 ; 
In the Army, 82 ; at 
Army Posts, 114 
Duelling, 46 

Eaton, Mrs., 88 

Ebert. Mrs. James, 124 

Elderly women's dress, 42 

Fair, Col., Commandant 
at West Point, 89 

Flllebrowne family, 39, 
119 

Ford's Theatre, 57 

Forsythe, Robert, agent 
for Astors, 14 ; his 
son. Secretary to Gen. 
Cass, 20 ; buys wedding 
outfit for sister, 21 ; 
effects treaty, 66 ; nat- 
ural temperament, 64 ; 
Indians in Washington, 
65 ; with Pottawatta- 
mies, 65 ; Indian inter- 
preter, 66 ; pleases Gen. 
Cass, 66 

Fort Wayne, journey to, 
16 

French, beginnings in, 54 

George IV and Mrs. Fltz- 
herbert, 32 

Gibson, Commissary Gen- 
eral, 31, 123 



Goldsborough, Mr., father 
of two Admirals, 29 

Grant. Gen. U. S., in De- 
troit, 103 ; at Panama, 
108 ; in San Francisco, 
109 ; in New York, 
152 ; at Detroit recep- 
tion, 153 ; calls on Dr. 
Tripler, 155 

Gratiot, Fort, 105 

Gratiot. Gen., 36 ; daugh- 
ter Victoria, 39 

Gwin, Senator, duelling, 
114 

Hamilton, Gen. Alex., ac- 
count of Yorktown, 13 

Handbook for Military 
Surgeons. 119 

Hawley, Captain, 28 

Hayes, President, recep- 
tion for, 165 

Heating houses, method 
of, 43 

Hero worship, 154 

Hewitt, Dr., in partner- 
ship, 109 

Honest work, 170 

Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 111 ; 
pall-bearer at Dr. Trip- 
ler's funeral, 157 

Houston, Mr., 48 

Howard. Senator Jacob 
M.. 147 

Hull's suri'ender, 14 

Hunt, Alice Forsythe, at 
Hull's surrender. 15 : 
marriage, 16 ; lack of 
school advantages, 22 ; 
pension trip to Wash- 
ington, 119 ; for Chas. 
Bissell, 132 ; at White 
House. 132 ; flag at 
Thorold, 149 ; with cus- 
toms officer, 150 ; in 
painting of Senate 
Chamber, 48 

Hunt. Mi ss Dollle, at 
Yorktown, 13 

Hunt, Gen. Henry I., at 
Yorktown, 13 ; in paint- 
ing "Chapultepec," 48 ; 



Index 



181 



review of artillery by, 
137 

Hunt, Robert, runs bar- 
row, 62 

Hunt, Captain Thos., 16 ; 
sent to Detroit, 16 ; in 
battle of Brownstown, 
17 ; taken prisoner. 17 ; 
a captive in Montreal, 
17; ill in Boston, 19; 
meets Alice Forsythe, 
20 ; marriage, 16 ; re- 
moves to Washington, 
21 ; in Commissary 
General's office, 21 ; re- 
moval to Detroit, 63 ; 
death, 70 ; reading the 
Bible, 71 ; characteris- 
tics, 71 

Hunt, Col. Thos., wound- 
ed at Yorktown, 13 

Ice chest first seen, 40 
Ice cream, the new deli- 
cacy, 43 
Impertinence of the Press, 

169 
Inches, the Laird of, 19 
Indian devotion, method 

of showing, 21 
Indian, odour of an, 65 
Indian punishments, 66 
India rubber shoes, 45 
Irreverence of soldiers in 

Mexico, 98 
Irving, Washington, 36 

Jackson, President An- 
drew, demonstration on 
the anniversary of New 
Orleans, 31 ; making 
new deposits, 60 

Jamieson, Capt., marriage 
service, 165 

Jessup, Gen., 122 

Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 
at the Sault, 75 ; in 
Detroit, 104 

Kane. Dr. E. K., 107 
Keeney, Dr., his trunk, 
141 



Kendall, Amos, Postmas- 
ter General, 38 

"Kensington," ship, 41 

Kercheval, Mrs. Maria, 
14, 20 

Kindnesses received, 171 

Kinzie, John, 59 

Kuhn, Capt., house of, 36 

Lafayette, Gen., visits 
Capt. Hunt. 33 ; stays 
with Gen. Bernard, 33 ; 
given a grant by Con- 
gress. 34 ; in Massa- 
chusetts, 35 

Lay Reader. Dr. Tripler 
becomes. Ill 

Lee, Robert E., 146 

Lincoln, Abraham, snub- 
bed by Dr. Tripler, 
131 : entertainment at 
White House. 132 ; 
meeting with, 135 

Lincoln, Mrs., 137 : re- 
ception at White 
House, 137 

Little Rock, Ark., visited 
by Father, 61 

Loyal Legion, 164 

Macklin, Major, a seces- 
sionist. 125 

Manure Dinner, The, 139 

Mapes, Dr.. home in New 
York, 152 

Marryatt, Capt, visits 
uncle, 67 

McClellan, Gen. G. B., in- 
terview with, 135 

McComb. Gen. Alex., 40 ; 
daughter of, 40 

McCoskry, Bishop, 68 ; 
confirms Dr. Tripler, 
90; visits Dr. Tripler, 
156 

McDowell, Gen. Irwin, 143 

McLean. Jvidge, 102 

McLean. Lydia. 36 

Mead, Salvadora, 37 

Mellen. Capt., piano 
bought. 37 

Mexican War, popularity 
considered. 100 

Mexico City, campaign 
against, 94 



182 



Index 



Michigan travel, its diffi- 
culties, 156 
Mitchell, Prof,, 117 
Money in circulation, 55 
Montholon, Count, 39 
Montreal, captivity of 

Thos. Hunt in, 17 
Morris, "Fox," 119 
Morris, Major, gives a 
dinner, 77 

"National Intelligencer," 

New York City visited, 21 
North River, travel on, 22 
Norvell, Senator, 78 

Old Age, 172 
. "Old Catholic" confer- 

ence, 169 
Ord, Gen. E. O. C, father 

of, a messenger, 32 
Oxford movement, 91 



Page, Rev. Chas., 118 
Painting, "Baptism of 

Pocahontas," a model 

48 
Painting "Chapultepec' 

showing Gen. Hunt, 48 
Painting of Senate Gal 

lery showing Mrs 

Hunt, 48 
Panama Bay, hospital at 

108 
Panama, crossing of Isth 

mus, 106 
Pemberton, Gen. J. C. 

104 
Penmanship changed by 

Dr. Tripler, 170 
Pennsylvania Avenue, 

Washington, 51 
Personal characteristics, 

172 
Pins, scarcity of. 32 
Pleasanton, Clementina, 

49 
Porter, Gen. Fitz John, 

100 
Pumps in Washington, 58 
Punch, the making of, 67 



Quail plentiful, 81 

Railway opened to Balti- 
more, 60 

Raines, Gen, Gabriel I., 
105 

Raisin River, massacre, 
18 

Ramsey, Capt, 41 

Rankin, Dr. George, 85 

Reilley, Arabella, 93 

"Rhoderick," the horse, 
35 

Robbery of Detroit home, 
151 

Roby, Mrs., school in De- 
troit, 20 

Rochambeau, Count de, at 
Yorktown, 13 

Roman Church in Mexi- 
co, 101 

Rosecrans, Gen. Wm. E., 
168 

Russian Church, priest 
of, 154 

San Francisco, early life 
in, 109 

"Savoyard." The, 69 

School-books. 52 

School teachers. 53 

Scott's novels, 23 

Scott, Gen. WMnfield, trip 
to the Sault, 73 ; calls 
on E. T., 80 ; at chess, 
80 ; offering an arm, 
80 ; Mexican campaign, 
93 ; at church service, 
98 ; at dinner with Dr. 
Tripler, 128 

Seward, Senator from 
New York. 121 

Sewing, instruction in, 60 

Sheridan, Gen. P. H., 166 

Sherman, Gen. Wm. T., 
in California, 111 ; at 
Newport, 126 

Slavery in the South, 126 

Small duties of soldiers, 
164 

Smallpox, 28; in Wash- 
ington, 141 



Index 



183 



Snelling, Col., at Hull's 
surrender, 18 ; mar- 
riage, 18 

Snuff-boxes, 42 

Spanish, Dr. Triplet 
studying, 95 

Spies in Washington, 143 

Stackleburg, Count von, 
41 

Stage travel, 21 

Stone, Gen. Chas. P., 112 

Street lamps first in De- 
troit, 105 

Stuart. Hugh, Governor 
of Bermuda, 85 

Sugar, how sold, 42 

Swearing, general custom, 
29 

Table manners, 47 
Taney, Chief Justice, 38 
Taylor, Col. James, flag- 
raising:. 124 
Taylor, President Zach- 

ary, 102 
Texas, annexing of, 93 
Thanksgiving service in 

Mexico, 96 
Theatres in Washington, 

56 
Thunder-storms, 26 
Townsend, Gen. E. D., 

Ill 
Towson, Gen., 49 
Toys, scarcity of, 26 
Tractarian movement, 91 
Travel across New York, 

21 
Tripler, Dr. Chas. Stuart, 
arrives in Detroit, 77 ; 
meeting with. 77 ; en- 
gagement, 77 ; mar- 
riage. 78 ; birth, 83 ; 
father, 83 ; apprenticed, 
84 ; War of 1812, 84 ; 
grandfather, 85 ; great 
uncle, 85 ; has vario- 
loid, 86 ; power of 
faith, 86 ; enters army, 
87 ; West Point, 87 ; 
first stations, 89 ; 
Seminole War, 89 ; 
specimen in Army Mu- 



seum, 90 ; confirmed, 
90 ; Oxford tracts, 91 ; 
Mexican War, 93 ; at 
Fort Gratiot, 105 ; at 
Newport, Ken., 117 ; at 
Washington, 131 ; with 
McClellan, 145 ; nomi- 
nated as Surgeon-Gen- 
eral, 146 ; last illness, 
155 ; visited by Gen. 
Grant, 155 ; by Bishop 
McCoskry, 156 ; death, 
157 ; funeral, 157 ; 
monument, 158 ; por- 
trait, 160 ; manual, 
160 ; will, 164 ; army 
service, 167 ; degrees 
and commissions held, 
168 ; publications, 163 
Tripler, Madame, 85 
Tripler, Eunice Hunt, 
birth, 25 ; vaccinated, 
28 ; pets, 27 ; play- 
mates, 26 ; toys, 26 ; 
books, 27, Christmas 
gifts, 27 ; church at- 
tendance, 28 ; with La- 
fayette, 33 ; as paint- 
er's model, 48 ; teach- 
ers, 53 ; taught danc- 
ing, 53 ; taught piano- 
playing, 37 ; taught 
French, 54 ; removal to 
Detroit, 67 ; Detroit 
schooling, 69 ; spelling, 
70 ; Euclid, 70 ; father 
dies, 70 ; sees appari- 
tion, 71 ; school in 
TJtica. 72 ; baptised, 
72 ; confirmed, 72 ; trip 
to the Sault, 73 ; 
meets Dr. C. S. Tripler, 
77 : engaged, 77 ; mar- 
ried, 78 ; first house- 
keeping, 78 ; Gen. 
Scott, 80 ; Gen. Brady, 
80 ; in Detroit, 80 ; at 
Port Gratiot, 105 ; at 
Newport, Ken., 117 ; at 
Washington. 133 ; in 
Nebraska, 171 

Vaccination, 28 



184 



Index 



Van Buren, President 

Martin, 36, 50 
Vaughn, Sir Charles, 29; 

gives entertainment, 51 
Virginia, trip into, 142 
Vose, Col., 89 

"Walk-in-the-Water," first 
lake steamer, 21 

War Department, Com- 
missary General's of- 
fice, 31 

Washington in early days, 
25 

Webster, Daniel, 35 

West Point, Dr. Tripler 
at, 87 ; breach of disci- 
pline, 88 

Wheaton, Dr. Walter V., 
87 

White, Bishop William, 
30 



White House reception, 
137 

Willard, Mrs. Emma, "Re- 
public of America," 14 

Wilson, Henry. 140 

Winter of 1838-39 cold, 
81 

Wirt, William, candidate 
for Presidency, 55 

Woodbury, Frances. 38 

Woodburv. Levi, Secre- 
tary of War, 38 

Woodbury. Lizzie, 38 

Woodhull. Dr.. 135 

Wool, Gen. John E., 50, 
114 

Yorktown, Centennial ob- 
servances, 13 

Yuma, Port, story of, 165 



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